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03 Jun 2003
Phased lifting of restrictions on inter-hospital movement for healthcare workers
As the last probable SARS case in Singapore was isolated on 11 May, the restriction of inter-hospital movement of healthcare workers (HCW) will be lifted in phases. The categories of HCW include doctors, nurses, therapists, hospital aides, as well as nurses who are self-employed or from private nursing agencies, and locum doctors.
Private sector Healthcare Institutions (HCIs)
- With effect from today, HCWs in the private sector will be allowed to move freely across private HCIs without restriction.
- HCWs in the private sector will be allowed to practise or work in public HCIs with effect from 16 June 2003.
Public sector Healthcare Institutions (HCIs)
The lifting of the restrictions on HCWs in the public HCIs will be done in several phases:
- The first group of HCWs allowed to move across the public HCIs were Medical Officers who were rotated to new postings in public HCIs on 2 June 2003.
- On 9 June 2003, advanced specialist trainees will move to their new postings in public HCIs.
- With effect from 16 June 2003, all other HCWs in the public HCIs will be allowed to work in other public HCIs. In addition, HCWs in public HCIs will also be allowed to work in the private HCIs from 16 June 2003.
Systems for monitoring HCWs in public and private sector hospitals
As a safeguard against cross institutional spread of infection, all HCIs will be required to closely monitor all HCWs working in their HCI who were practising within the last 10 days in another HCI, to ensure that they are afebrile and well.
Need to maintain a high level of vigilance
The Ministry has reminded all HCIs of the need to maintain the current high level of vigilance and infection control. Surveillance for clusters of patients and staff with fever in hospitals and nursing homes will also continue.
Situation Update
Since the last MOH press update on 31 May 2003, there have been no new probable cases, no discharges and no deaths.
Suspect cases
Since 31 May 2003, there are no new suspect cases admitted to TTSH. The 47-year-old man reported as a suspect case on 31 May has since been diagnosed to have a non-SARS illness and discharged well.
Observation cases
From 31 May 2003 to 3 June 2003, a total of 14 cases were admitted for observation for fever. Of these, 9 have since been diagnosed as non-SARS cases, while 5 are still under observation. Of the 5 cases under observation, two had travelled to China and Hong Kong. The other three do not have any contact history at this point in time.
Quarantine Figures*
The quarantine figures are as follows:
#Discharged patients under home quarantine = 61
Contacts under home quarantine = 0
Total under home quarantine orders = 61
*Quarantine cases refer to those who are required to stay at home for precautionary reasons as they may have had contact with a SARS patient. These are healthy individuals.
# This is an added precautionary measure for discharged SARS patients as well as those with co-morbidities.
Summary of SARS Cases
A summary of SARS cases is as follows:
Discharged: 165
Hospitalised: 9 (including 4 in ICU)
Deaths: 31
Probable cases: 206*
Suspect cases: 0
Observation cases: 5
*Includes 1 case who died from non-SARS causes
Travel Advisory
MOH urges the public to heed WHO's advice to postpone travel to Beijing, Hebei, Inner Mongolia, Shanxi, Tianjin and Taiwan until another time.
Current updates on SARS
As the current situation has stabilised, the daily MOH press update on SARS will be replaced with a twice-weekly update- every Tuesday and Friday. This took effect from 1 June 2003.