Singapore is taking precautions to ensure that everyone s healthy at work and school. Having experienced SARS, they have lots of procedures put in place to monitor citizens, and provide help in the event that someone is found sick.
Since I work at a school, we have to be extra careful since we have thousands of students together in one area. To do this, there is a temperature monitoring system put in place. All of the student have to bring thermometers (which they got for free at orientation), and take their temp once in the morning and once in the afternoon. For students that forget their thermometer, they can go to one of the many stations around school to get their temp taken. If they are below 37.5 degrees Celsius, they get a sicker that says “I Am Well”. The sticker is color-coded (morning and afternoon), and is stamped with a date. For staff members, we have to take our temp twice a day and log it into an online monitoring system. In addition, we have to monitor the students to make sure they have their stickers, and are feeling well.
For people traveling to Singapore, Changi airport will be monitoring their temperature, and detaining people that have traveled to affected areas. Here is part of the official release from the Ministry of Health website:
Even though as of 30th April 2009, there are no human cases of Mexican Swine Influenza in Singapore, MOH will be upgrading our Disease Outbreak Response System Alert status from Yellow to Orange. There is a real possibility that such cases may surface in Singapore and we must be prepared at all fronts to delay its spread to Singapore for as long as possible.
There are various new precautionary measures implemented under the Orange Alert Status.
Healthcare Institutions
Enhanced surveillance
Those with a travel history to Mexico over the past seven days will be quarantined for seven days on their return to Singapore and undergo phone surveillance for symptoms for Mexican Swine Influenza . Those who develop symptoms will be referred to the CDC for a thorough assessment. A dedicated ambulance service (tel 993) has been activated to convey such patients to CDC. Should evidence arise that other countries besides Mexico are exporting cases, MOH will also consider imposing similar conditions for travelers returning from those areas.
Members of the public who are returning from other affected areas (ie states of New York, California, Kansas and Texas in the United States and the state of Nova Scotia in Canada) are advised to stay at home for seven days upon return and check themselves for symptoms for Mexican swine flu. They should practice social distancing and refrain from joining mass gatherings, e.g. going to the cinemas, shopping malls, or supermarkets etc. Those who develop respiratory illness with fever (Temperature > 38C) within seven days after their return should put on a surgical mask, call 993 for an ambulance. They should also disclose their travel histories to their doctors.
If you have been following this blog, you might recall a post I wrote about “E-learning week”. Initially, I thought a full week of school without classess was pointless, but now I have changed my mind. I guess you do not really see the need for precautions until they end up serving a purpose. Oh well, I would rather be wrong than feel as if Singapore did not know what they were doing. After all, if it hits Singapore, we are all going to be in trouble.
Media coverage from Singapore’s paper can be found here.
