According to ChannelNewsAsia:

SINGAPORE: Health Minister Khaw Boon Wan has said he will not be surprised if Influenza A (H1N1) spreads within the community in Singapore.

But as symptoms of the four H1N1 cases here have been mild so far, he said that there is no cause for alarm.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Health (MOH) will conduct studies to decode the virus and if data shows it behaves just like seasonal flu, Singapore will step down its flu control measures.

Oh, great there are no cause for alarm…nothing to be afraid of said Minister Khaw Boon Wan. Thanks Minister for calming the population, for not being proactive in your measures and not studying the H1N1 bug earlier before spending huge $$ on thermal scanners which does NOTHING to block the 4 infected people that entered Singapore that had symptoms of coughing & flu.

Below is the fictional conversation between Officers in Airport

Passenger Walk By: “Cough! Cough! Cough! Sir…I cough badly…can I pass?”
Officer A: “No worry madam, you are not infectious welcome back to Singapore”
Boyfriend: “Aiyo better go see doctor” proceed to send girl friend to GP clinic
News came out…confirmed infected

Officer A: “Alamak! (OH NO), our expensive thermal heat camera fail to detect not just 1 but 4 person who are infected with H1N1 Type A!!”
Officer B: “Yah loh no choice mah Boss never say stop those coughing badly one from going pass us…what to do? Follow the Law!”

However, we will never know how many people are infected via close proximity to the 4 infected person and we should assume a high number of infection.

I know a person who is a paramedic and got infected previously with Influenza B and got hospitalized for a few days, she felt totally breathless and have lung pain and need to be Nebulized with salbutamol or terbutaline 4 times a day to prevent mucus blocking the air way until the 3rd day before she felt better and recovered…slowly and she eventually took a full month to fully recover from this nightmare.

What she had gotten is Influenza B a less deadly version of the influenza virus compared to H1N1 Type A but it’s bad enough to cause a healthy individual to have breathing difficulty but not going to kill a person if detected earlier.

That means, yes it’s NOT deadly but it will make many of the people to be severely sick for a few days and weak for at least a month (So those marathoners do take care)

Currently According to Yahoo!News that the Health Ministry is trying to contact 43 people who were on the same flights as the latest three H1N1 infected persons.

The flights are

1. Singapore Airlines SQ25 on May 26 at 6.30am. She was seated at Row 55 (Patient Zero)
   
2. United Airlines 895 which touched down in Singapore on May 25 at 0036 hours,
3. United Airlines 803 on May 26 at 2353 hours, and
4. Singapore Airlines SQ917 on May 26 at 1750 hours.

Confirmed Infected Patient ZERO :
22 year old female SMU student who comes back in flight SQ25 on May 26 at 6.30am. She was seated at Row 55

(Condition: fever had subsided and she is in stable condition.)

Home quarantine order (HQO) list under patient zero

1. HQOs have been served to 25 close contacts — 10 Singaporeans and 15 foreigners. (expiry of HQOon June 2, 2009)
2. The remaining 48 close contacts are not in Singapore.

Confirmed InfectedPatient 2:
28—year—old Singaporean male who returned from Chicago on flight United Airlines 895 on May 25 at 0036 hours
Health Ministry said that apart from his two visits to the clinic and to Tan Tock Seng Hospital, he remained at home the entire period after arriving back in Singapore.

Home quarantine order (HQO) list under patient 2

1. His only close contact — his wife — has been placed under HQO until June 2 (Excluding people from the clinic & Tan Tock Seng Hospital!!!)

Confirmed Infected Patient  3:
28—year—old American female expatriate who returned from Honolulu, She was on flight United Airlines 803 via Tokyo and arrived on May 26 at 2353 hours.

Home quarantine order (HQO) list under patient 3

1. Her friend and her maid have been placed under home quarantine until June 3.

Confirmed Infected Patient  4:
43—year—old female Singapore Permanent Resident who returned from San Francisco. She was on Singapore Airlines 917 and arrived on May 26 at 1750 hours via Manila.

Home quarantine order (HQO) list under patient 4

1. The HQOs were served to her friend and two office colleagues, and the orders expire on June 3.

he Health Ministry said contact tracing for all the close contacts of the latest three confirmed cases is still in progress.

So far, 122 passengers on the three flights who are close contacts of the latest three confirmed cases have been identified. Only 61 of those passengers entered Singapore.

The MOH said it has managed to contact 18 of them and HQOs will be served to them.

The ministry also said passengers within the first three and back rows of the cases who have not been contacted yet should call the MOH hotline at 1800—333— 9999 to enable the ministry to check on their health condition expeditiously.

The affected rows for SQ917 on May 26 are 30—36; rows 30—36 for UA803 on May 26, and rows 52—58 for UA895 on May 25.

Did you guys notice the important key words that I had highlighted in red!!?

Problems that are not resolved

1. The 48 close contacts of patient zero are not in Singapore, this means many of them are only transit in Singapore before flying to other countries. Does that means they are forgotten or ignored?
2. Patient 2 visited the clinic TWICE and to Tan Tock Seng Hospital, before he was confirmed as infected…who else are in close contact with him!!! A LOT Apparently!
3. Out of 61 of those passengers that had closed contact with the latest 3 infected and had entered Singapore, MOH only managed to find 18 of them! (43 more to go hence the title!)

By now, we should understand that this tracing is not going to contain the H1N1 Type A virus that spreads very quickly from person to person yet the Minister of Health refuse to raise the threat level and even saying that this “sickness” is not that life threatening and play down the seriousness of this epidemic.

MANY people from work & MRT DON’T WEAR MASK AT ALL…it’s almost fruitless to contain a massive outbreak…

So my prediction is the next number of infected will go expotentially above 50 people and many won’t be travellers from overseas and do not have fever but serious cough, flu and breathlessness instead and continue to travel within Singapore.

Key location to avoid if possible

1. New Circle Line at weekend or peak hours
2. Crowded places where you feel the breath such as MRT, BUS at peak hours.
3. Taxi with drivers that look sick
4. Movie theaters

I thought of those marathon runners to be at risk but I DON’T THINK any one who are sick will participate in the run even they had to forfeit their “finisher” t-shirt!!

If you feel sick and uncomfortable, DO NOT VISIT THE CLINIC as most GP Clinic do not have enough mask to cover everyone hence risk spreading the virus there! Instead call the MOH hotline 1800—333— 9999 so that you will be well taken care of with proper medical treatment and quarantine at home.

Recommended Preparation for all people

1. Stock up at least 7 days worth of food for your whole family as back up plan in case you are served a Home Quarantine Order suddenly or ORDER FOOD ONLINE!
2. Try to duplicate the work files back to home first so that you can work from home at moment notice (if you are quarantine)
3. Buy mask to wear if you are sick or worried of the infection
4. Buy hand sanitizer and use it everytime your hand touches some public items such as MRT handles, lift buttons and etc. and don’t anyhow touch your face.
5. Wash hands if in doubt

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