Given the Republic’s inter-connectivity and how neighbours such as Malaysia and the Philippines have had MERS cases, it must assume that the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) can and will enter the country and Singapore are prepared for it, said Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong on Thursday (Jun 11).
In a visit to Tan Tock Seng Hospital, Mr Lee said: “For us it’s a matter of time, and for us, I wanted to be quite sure that our medical facilities our medical staff, the hospitals, the whole team are ready and they know how to deal with it. They don’t fumble and we can contain it, and then put a stop to the disease in Singapore as quickly as we can.”
The Singapore public also needs to know how to respond, Mr Lee added. If one has travelled and feels unwell, or displays flu symptoms, these individuals should take it seriously and visit the hospital to get checked, he said. If there were to be MERS cases in the country, Singaporeans should not get into a panic, but know that the country is prepared and what can be done, he said.
Singapore are prepared for MERS. The hospital said all suspected and confirmed cases at the hospital will be isolated and managed under strict airborne infection control precautions. It added processes are in place at the hospital’s Emergency Department, to evaluate and screen patients with clinical signs of respiratory illnesses and a travel history to suspected regions. If suspected, patients are managed separately with masks and placed in isolation rooms for further medical consultation. They will be admitted into designated isolation wards at the Communicable Diseases Centre (CDC) if needed……
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Photo: TODAY/Joy Fang