Singapore hospitals have increased precautions after a male patient tested positive for the SARS virus which killed 33 people in the city-state after the March outbreak - Singapore - Brief Article

Business Asia, Sept, 2003

Singapore hospitals have increased precautions after a male patient tested positive for the SARS virus which killed 33 people in the city-state after the March outbreak. The patient was moved to a hospital designated for SARS patients, from a downtown state-run medical centre. A total of 25 people were quarantined and officials were investigating the source of infection as it was not immediately known how the 27-year-old medical laboratory technician contracted the disease.

The Singapore Government raised the alert on SARS after the outbreak led its economy to contract a record 11.4 per cent in the second quarter from the previous three months. Singapore's health authorities have also said they would send blood and other samples from the SARS patient to the US. A second round of tests in Singapore confirmed the man had the virus however, officials sought to calm the public by saying the infection did not mean the disease was spreading. "It appears to be a single, isolated case," said Khaw Boon Wan, Singapore's acting Health Minister. "Our own assessments that this case is a low public health risk as the patient was picked up and isolated early."