'The number of exported cases from Mexico has also fallen significantly,' it noted of the H1N1 threat. -- ST PHOTO: LIM SIN THAI
THE Health Ministry has lifted the Home Quarantine Order (HQO) for travellers who have been to Mexico in the past seven days.
'The outbreak in Mexico appears to be cooling off with a fall in the number of new confirmed cases,' the ministry said in a statement on Saturday.
'The number of exported cases from Mexico has also fallen significantly,' it noted of the H1N1 threat.
Since the HQO came into effect on May 4, 23 people have been confined to their homes or the Aloha Loyang Resort for seven days.
Only one person remains under quarantine, till May 18.
'Now that we are more familiar with the virus, and the situation doesn't seem as serious as we thought, we have started to adjust the measures that we took a few weeks before,' Health Minister Khaw Boon Wan said, referring to the measures taken for people coming in from Mexico.
He was speaking on the sidelines of a community event in Sembawang on Saturday.
On whether there will be an increase in border checks since Malaysia's first H1N1 case was reported last Friday, he said a system of border controls has always been there, and Singapore is 'not letting it down for a long time'.
Senior Minister of State Balaji Sadasivan will represent Mr Khaw at a World Health Organisation meeting in Geneva this week.
'Although the look of this outbreak is likely to be mild, we can't be 100 per cent sure. So I'd rather be in Singapore to manage the situation,' said Mr Khaw.
