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05 Apr 2003
As at 5 April 03, 72 SARS patients have been discharged. 25 SARS patients remain hospitalised.
There were 2 additional SARS cases reported today. One is a hospital staff and the other is the mother of a SARS patient.
Mother of SARS patient admitted to TTSH ICU
Another patient who is the mother of a SARS case (who was discharged on 31 March 03) was transferred from NUH ICU to Tan Tock Seng Hospital on 5 April 03 at 5.30pm. She is now in intensive care as a SARS case. She and three other family members were on home quarantine till 5 April 03. A home visit by a nurse was done on 2 April 03. Following which phone calls were made twice a day to determine their well being. She informed the nurse who called that she was well. When the nurse called this morning, her daughter-in-law informed the nurse that she was not at home.
KKH midwife diagnosed with SARS
A mid-wife at KK Women's and Children's Hospital has been diagnosed with SARS. This mid-wife came down with fever on the 24 Mar 03. She was on medical leave from 25 to 26 Mar 03, and returned to work on 27 Mar 03. She was given another two days medical leave from 28 - 29 Mar 03 as she was still unwell. On 30 Mar 03, she saw a GP who referred her to Mt Elizabeth Hospital. As her chest x-ray showed some changes she was referred to TTSH as a suspected SARS case on 31 Mar 03. She was discharged on 4 Apr. Her contact was a TTSH staff nurse who had low grade fever but still visited the Antenatal Clinic on 17 Mar. This TTSH staff nurse was later admitted to TTSH for suspected SARS. She was upgraded to probable SARS on 25 Mar and discharged on 29 Mar.
Prior to her medical leave, the KKH midwife had about 500 patient contacts on the two days, 24 Mar and 27 Mar 03. During the midwife's admission into TTSH, she was classified as a suspect in view of her contact history, and was immediately isolated. Identification of her contacts, including health care workers was done but none were served quarantine orders as she was only a suspect. So far, her contacts were said to be well.
Yesterday, upon discharge, the Infectious Disease doctors reviewed her case and reclassified her to a probable case. So far, KKH has called 240 out of 291 of her contacts on 24 Mar, and 191 out of 212 contacts on 27 Mar 03. They are all well.
Cluster of 21 health care workers at SGH down with fever
Since 1 April 03, a total of 20 nurses and 1 doctor in Singapore General Hospital from Wards 57 and 58, have developed fever. They have all been referred to Tan Tock Seng Hospital. As a precautionary measure, they have all have been admitted as suspected SARS cases.
A Chinese man in his 60s was admitted to Tan Tock Seng Hospital from 5 to 20 March 03 for chronic kidney disease and diabetes. He was admitted to Singapore General Hospital (SGH) Ward 57 on 24 Mar 03 for gastrointestinal bleeding and right kidney abscess. He was treated for his medical conditions. On 26 Mar 03, he developed a fever and antibiotics was started. On 29 Mar 03, he was transferred to Ward 58. Since 2 Apr 03, he no longer had fever. Chest x-rays on 24, 28 and 30 March were all clear. Blood cultures were positive for E.Coli infection of the blood.
We are investigating the cause of the fever of the 21 hospital staff. It is unclear at this point in time whether the Chinese patient above is the source of infection for these hospital staff. The clinical picture of this patient at SGH is not suggestive of SARS. Nevertheless, active contact tracing is underway at SGH to identify all other health care workers, inpatients and visitors to minimise any possibility of further transmission.
As an assurance, visitors who went to/ Ward 57 and 58 at SGH from 20 Mar to 1 Apr 03 may call SGH hotline at 6321-3591 for free health checks to ensure their well-being
Air and sea passengers screened
With effect from yesterday, screening of passengers arriving at Changi Airport was extended to all flights from China as well as those from Macau. Today, 4 passengers arriving from affected areas required further screening by the nurses at the airport. None were referred to TTSH for further assessment.
No passenger vessels that had a travel history to SARS affected areas in the last 10 days arrived today.
Summary of SARS cases
To date, the total number of people diagnosed with SARS is 103. Among these are 3 children below 18 years of age. Out of the 25 patients still hospitalised, 14 are in intensive care, including the 20-year-old Ngee Ann Polytechnic student. Since yesterday, there was 2 new admission into ICU.
To date, 96 cases have arisen from the first index case, comprising 49 family members, friends or close contacts, and 47 hospital staff.
Apart from the first imported case, the 6 other imported cases have not given rise to any SARS cases.
The number of suspect cases admitted is 57, including 3 children (below 18 years old). The number of people still with Home Quarantine Orders is 196.
Expanded list for travel advisory
MOH urges the public to heed World Health Organisation (WHO)'s advice to postpone travel to Hong Kong and Guangdong until another time. We would also like to advise the public to avoid travel to other SARS affected areas - Shanxi, Taiwan, Hanoi and Toronto, unless absolutely necessary.