Don't stop washing your hands, even when the flu alert returns to yellow. Children from Raffles Kindercare wait in line to clean up with a hand sanitiser at the Victoria Theatre, where the Colours of Ballet show was held yesterday. Personal hygiene is vital as the flu spreads easily through coughs and sniffles and by touching dirty surfaces. -- ST PHOTO: MUGILAN RAJASEGERAN
A COUNTRY'S pandemic alert levels will always differ from that of the World Health Organisation at a certain point - when the local situation becomes paramount.
This is why Singapore is now moving down to yellow alert at a time when the WHO might still move up to level six, which indicates a full-blown pandemic.
Explaining the decoupling of Singapore's five-colour alert levels from WHO's six-digit alerts, Health Minister Khaw Boon Wan yesterday said it is quite natural to 'lock-step' at the start.
Once the situation becomes clearer, countries will look at the national and regional situation and take their own steps, either to be more stringent or to be more relaxed.
He said that WHO's levels look only at how far a disease spreads, while Singapore's system also takes into account how virulent that disease is.
WHO's outlook is global, so it might call a level six should it see Influenza A (H1N1) spreading quickly around the world even though the illness remains a mild one.
For Singapore, however, there will not be a need for such a high level of vigilance for a fast-spreading but mild disease.
At his third influenza press conference, the minister said: 'We should shift to a sustainable level of precautions and control measures. We must avoid 'flu fatigue'.'
He said that once the dust has settled, he would suggest to WHO that its system of zero to six warning levels 'is probably too limited because it bogs you down. You're fearful of over-reacting, so you may end up under-reacting'.
Singapore was more careful in coming up with its colour scheme, perhaps due to its brush with Sars in 2003.
Read the full story in Thursday's edition of The Straits Times.
