The hero I’m talking about i n this post is not about someone who saved someone. But someone who spread dieseases.

I was reading The Straits Times online and came across a news article about this fellow who took the MRT to consult his GP after self quarantine at a hotel and his sister’s home. Isn’t that great that there might be a chance for the community wide outbreak of H1N1 in Singapore?

Here’s the news article from http://www.straitstimes.com/Breaking%2BNews/Singapore/Story/STIStory_386815.html.

“SINGAPORE’S 12th confirmed H1N1 flu patient travelled on the MRT to see a general practitioner on Wednesday morning.

He was accompanied by a family member and travelled to the clinic from his sister’s home, where he had been staying since checking out of a hotel, according to a Ministry of Health update issued on Friday night.The 18-year-old Singaporean had returned late on Monday on Emirates Flight EK405 from Melbourne. Although he developed symptoms on May 30, he passed thermal scanners at Changi Airport because he did not have a fever then.

He was met by a friend at the airport who drove him to a hotel for an overnight stay as he wanted to isolate himself from his family.

On Tuesday, he took a taxi to the GP clinic and then went back to the hotel. He checked out and took another taxi to his sister’s place where he stayed for the whole day.

The following day, he took the MRT to the same clinic in the morning, returning to his sister’s house afterwards.

He stayed there until Thursday when a 993 ambulance was called to send him to Tan Tock Seng Hospital’s Emergency Department.

Later on Thursday, laboratory results confirmed his H1N1 infection and he was admitted to the Communicable Disease Centre.

On Friday, Singapore confirmed its 13th and 14th cases of H1N1 flu, a 23-year-old Singaporean man returning from Melbourne and a 22-year-old flight attendant with Singapore Airlines, the first cabin member to come down with the virus.”

Aren’t he smart to self quarantine himself in the hotel room and his sister’s home but stupid to take the MRT to consult the GP? What a hero!

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Yes! It’s officially orange! But the orange I’m writing here is not referring to the orange fruit.

Singapore’s Ministry of Health has escalate the swine flu alert to ORANGE! Here’s what the alert Orange mean:

Alert Orange
Virus becoming increasingly better adapted to humans but may not yet be fully transmissible , requiring close contact with an index case.

Larger clusters appear in one or two places outside Singapore but a pandemic has not yet been declared. A cluster of cases may also occur in Singapore but human-to-human spread remains localized.

Public health measures such as isolation and quarantine will be effective to break the chain of transmission. Strategy is to contain spread arising from any local cases and break the chain of transmission, while preserving essential services and resources. 

Action:
Implement “No visitor” rule at all hospitals.

Restrict all inter-hospital movement of patients or healthcare workers.

Set up Flu Clinics at the 18 Polyclinics for assessment and anti-viral treatment of flu-like patients.

Commence antiviral prophylaxis for identified essential services.

Encourage temperature taking at schools and all non-healthcare workplaces, markets, places of mass gatherings etc.

Carry out temperature screening for in-bound and outbound passengers at all air, sea and land border checkpoints.

Consider closing of schools and suspension of public gathering and events.

So if you are having flu symptom, please wear a facial mask when you are out in public places.

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Was reading Bloomberg news just now and come across an article on swine flu that has kill 22 in Mexico so far.

Will this swine flu starts to be another worldwide pandemic just like what SARS did in 2003? With the current recession affecting tourism, will the outbreak of this swine flu (if it were to ever spread) definitely brings any country’s economy that depends on tourism to it knee.

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