Mystery pneumonia claims 6th victim in Singapore

Asian Economic News, April 7, 2003

SINGAPORE, April 4 Kyodo

A mysterious and deadly pneumonia now raging in Singapore has claimed its sixth victim, a young woman who died Friday after battling the flu-like virus for about two weeks, the Health Ministry said.

Another new case also emerged with a 28-year-old Indonesian domestic helper diagnosed with the illness, known as severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), bringing the total number of people infected so far to 101.

It is not clear how she contracted the flu-like virus but the ministry officials said she had been nursing her employer who was in Tan Tock Seng Hospital before the hospital closed its doors to all cases except SARS. As her employer did not contract SARS, the officials suspect she could have been infected by another patient at the hospital.

The latest fatality, Chong Peiling, 29, returned from a trip to Beijing with a fever on March 26. Immediately after arriving at Changi Airport she took a taxi to a hospital with her mother to seek medical treatment.

Singapore's Health Minister Lim Hng Kiang warned that the death toll may rise further.

''In the end, we may end up with a 6% to 7% mortality rate,'' he said, but added that, on the brighter side, 90% of those infected have recovered. So far, 69 of those infected have been discharged from hospital with only 26 still in hospital, including 12 who are critically ill.

Lim also cautioned that Singapore may see more imported cases because the checks at the airports and seaports will not detect people in the early stages of infection when the virus is still in the incubation period.

''SARS will not disappear after sometime,'' he said, adding that the situation in Singapore will get worse if countries in the region also experience a rise in those infected.

Singapore has been working closely with neighboring Malaysia and also plans to do so with Indonesia to curb the spread of the illness in the region.

''The regional situation can get more serious if countries don't tackle this effectively,'' Lim said.

The ministry will step up screening at airports by asking visitors from high-risk countries to fill out health declaration cards at airports and seaports starting from Monday, and the measure is expected to become a permanent feature in Singapore's entry points by extending to all countries beyond the high risk countries.

The government has already started to post nurses at the airport and seaport to screen visitors arriving from areas worst hit by SARS, such as China's Guangzhou province and Hanoi.

Singapore has already closed all government schools for eleven days until next Monday, and the ministry is expected to announce on Saturday morning its decision on whether to reopen the schools as scheduled or extend the closure.

Ngee Ann Polytechnic, one of the largest technical colleges in Singapore, has also been closed for five days until Monday. One of the largest private schools for higher education for adults has also decided to close for 10 days as a safety precaution.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong made a phone call on Thursday to Malaysia's Acting Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi to discuss the SARS issue, his press secretary said.

Goh briefed him on the SARS situation in Singapore and explained

that this was a cross-border problem and suggested that health officials from the two countries work together to contain the problem.

Singapore is concerned that if the infection spread to Malaysia, Singapore would also be affected because of the movement of thousands of people between the two neighboring countries each day.