Home Affairs Minister Wong Kan Seng (left) and Health Minister Khaw Boon Wan (right) said Singapore was much better prepared than during SARS then. --PHOTO: NP AND ST
SINGAPORE, along with the rest of the world, was caught flat-footed when Sars struck without warning in 2003.
This time round, the country, which lost 33 people to Sars, is going into war better prepared to deal with the enemy.
It will not be a short fight, but a long war of attrition to combat swine flu, which can invade the country undetected.
Images of battle were thrown up on Wednesday at the Government's first press conference on how the country should gear up to fight a novel flu strain that appeared to have originated from Mexico.
Said Health Minister Khaw Boon Wan: 'I think we did well last time, but that was an old war. This is a new war now, and we have to adapt our approach to face this new enemy.''
The new enemy, he said, was more dangerous than the Sars virus.
While Sars victims exhibit symptoms and are infectious only two weeks after contracting the virus, the swine flu H1N1 virus attacks silently.
One in three of its victims do not even show any of the usual flu symptoms, such as sneezing and a high temperature. For those who do, the virus may already have been transmitted before that first sneeze. It is most contagious 24 hours before any signs surface.
What this means: Some processes put in place during Sars, such as quarantining patients and tracing those they have been in touch with when they are most infectious, will not be as effective.
Also, temperature checks at the borders will not be able to net all imported cases, as some may appear healthy.
Read the full report in Thursday's edition of The Straits Times.
