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Singapore Starts Flu Quarantine on Visitors to Mexico (Update2)
2009-05-03 07:52:41.955 GMT
(Adds new WHO data in second paragraph, reports from
Australia and China. See {EXT3 <GO>} for related stories.)
By Linus Chua and Hanny Wan
May 3 (Bloomberg) -- Singapore will quarantine travelers
from Mexico as Hong Kong isolated the hotel that hosted its
first confirmed swine-flu patient, a man from the Latin American
nation that has reported the most deaths from the virus.
Swine flu, formally known as influenza H1N1, has caused 17
deaths and sickened 658 people in 16 countries, according to
World Health Organization figures. The agency may soon declare
the first global influenza pandemic since 1968, even as there?s
no evidence yet of sustained community transmission of the virus,
and many cases show symptoms no more severe than seasonal flu.
Hong Kong, where 299 people died during the 2003 SARS
epidemic, pledged to step up measures to contain the virus.
Singapore?s order takes effect tomorrow, the city?s health
ministry said in an e-mailed statement last night.
?The coming week is critical for us to determine if the
situation is being adequately controlled so as to slow the
spread of the virus,? York Chow, Hong Kong?s health secretary,
said at a meeting of legislators broadcast on local television.
South Korea is treating one confirmed and two probable
cases of swine flu, according to the Korea Centers for Disease
Control & Prevention.
Mexico Connection
A 51-year-old nun who returned to Korea on April 26 from a
week of aid activities in Mexico was confirmed yesterday to have
the virus. The two probable cases are a 44-year-old nun who
lives in the same convent, and a 62-year-old female who took the
same flight from Mexico.
No human cases of swine flu had been confirmed in Singapore
as of yesterday, according to the ministry?s Web site. All 25
people tested for infection proved negative.
An infant at a U.S. military base in Japan also tested
negative after showing possible symptoms of the swine flu virus,
Japan?s Foreign Ministry said today.
The number of confirmed swine-flu deaths in Mexico is 19,
up from 16 on May 1, the nation?s health minister, Jose Cordova,
said at a news conference in Mexico City. The WHO?s statistics,
lag reports by national and local agencies.
Australia and New Zealand both cut the number of suspected
cases they are checking.
Hong Kong confirmed its first swine-flu case on May 1, a
25-year-old Mexican man who arrived in the city from Shanghai
the previous day, and declared a public emergency.
The patient is in a stable condition, and there are no new
confirmed cases and no need to cancel community activities,
health officials said.
Hotel Quarantine
Metropark Hotel in Hong Kong?s nightlife center Wan Chai,
where the infected man stayed, will be isolated for seven days
and guests will be tested for infection.
Hong Kong is seeking to make contact with more than 60
airline passengers and hotel guests who may have had contact
with the man, the South China Morning Post reported today.
Six or seven guests at L?hotel Nina et Convention Centre in
the Tsuen Wan district of the city were examined after showing
signs of fever.
Hong Kong Chief Executive Donald Tsang urged the public to
remain calm, saying the government would ?rather take a
stricter approach than miss the opportunity to contain the
virus.?
?Well Equipped?
Hong Kong is ?well-equipped? to handle a swine flu
outbreak because of its experience six years ago with severe
acute respiratory syndrome, Tsang said April 30. That outbreak
killed 774 worldwide and caused travel to Asia to plunge.
Taiwan health authorities are tracking 26 people who
traveled on the same flight as the Mexican man. Health officials
in China?s southern Guangdong province were seeking to contact
11 people who were on that flight.
China has also quarantined 40 Mexicans on concerns the
virus may spread, Radio Television Hong Kong reported today,
citing the Mexican embassy in China.
Hong Kong?s Chow said he requested all airlines ensure
adequate health-care supplies, such as face masks and
disinfectant, are available for crew and passengers. All
airlines should let crews wear face masks, he said.
Cathay Pacific Airways Ltd., Hong Kong?s biggest carrier,
advised staff to check body temperature before going to work,
and will allow them to wear face masks at work, according to a
statement published on the company?s Web site.
Health Inspections
Health authorities in Hong Kong and the bordering mainland
Chinese city of Shenzhen began to enforce a mandatory health
declaration at the Lowu checkpoint yesterday. Travelers crossing
the border through other checkpoints will be required to submit
such a form before going through immigration, the Hong Kong
Department of Health said in a statement posted on the
government Web site.
The city?s international airport and all border checkpoints
will pay special attention to Mexican passport holders and give
them health inspections, Chow said. The government has decided
not to close schools, said Michael Suen, secretary for education.
Australia cut the number of suspected cases for the third
time in two days, with 76 people now being investigated, down
from 121 yesterday, according to the Department of Health and
Ageing Web site.
?We have no confirmed cases here,? Australian Health
Minister Nicola Roxon told commercial television today.
New Zealand, which has reported four confirmed infections,
has identified 13 cases as ?probable.? The number of suspected
patients has fallen to 89 compared with 101 yesterday, the
Ministry of Health said in a statement today.
There are 360 people in New Zealand that have been placed
in isolation and treated with Roche Holding AG?s Tamiflu, down
from 388 on May 1, the government said.
For Related News and Information:
Today?s most popular health-care stories: MNI HEA <GO>
Top health stories: HTOP <GO>
News about influenza: NI FLU <GO>
For charts on the number of cases and deaths, see SWINE<GO>
--With assistance from Heejin Koo in Seoul, Chris Cooper in
Tokyo, Bei Hu in Hong Kong, Glenys Sim in Singapore, Robert
Fenner in Melbourne and Dermot Doherty in Geneva. Editors: Jim
McDonald, Fergus Maguire.
Singapore Starts Flu Quarantine on Visitors to Mexico (Update2)
2009-05-03 07:52:41.955 GMT
(Adds new WHO data in second paragraph, reports from
Australia and China. See {EXT3 <GO>} for related stories.)
By Linus Chua and Hanny Wan
May 3 (Bloomberg) -- Singapore will quarantine travelers
from Mexico as Hong Kong isolated the hotel that hosted its
first confirmed swine-flu patient, a man from the Latin American
nation that has reported the most deaths from the virus.
Swine flu, formally known as influenza H1N1, has caused 17
deaths and sickened 658 people in 16 countries, according to
World Health Organization figures. The agency may soon declare
the first global influenza pandemic since 1968, even as there?s
no evidence yet of sustained community transmission of the virus,
and many cases show symptoms no more severe than seasonal flu.
Hong Kong, where 299 people died during the 2003 SARS
epidemic, pledged to step up measures to contain the virus.
Singapore?s order takes effect tomorrow, the city?s health
ministry said in an e-mailed statement last night.
?The coming week is critical for us to determine if the
situation is being adequately controlled so as to slow the
spread of the virus,? York Chow, Hong Kong?s health secretary,
said at a meeting of legislators broadcast on local television.
South Korea is treating one confirmed and two probable
cases of swine flu, according to the Korea Centers for Disease
Control & Prevention.
Mexico Connection
A 51-year-old nun who returned to Korea on April 26 from a
week of aid activities in Mexico was confirmed yesterday to have
the virus. The two probable cases are a 44-year-old nun who
lives in the same convent, and a 62-year-old female who took the
same flight from Mexico.
No human cases of swine flu had been confirmed in Singapore
as of yesterday, according to the ministry?s Web site. All 25
people tested for infection proved negative.
An infant at a U.S. military base in Japan also tested
negative after showing possible symptoms of the swine flu virus,
Japan?s Foreign Ministry said today.
The number of confirmed swine-flu deaths in Mexico is 19,
up from 16 on May 1, the nation?s health minister, Jose Cordova,
said at a news conference in Mexico City. The WHO?s statistics,
lag reports by national and local agencies.
Australia and New Zealand both cut the number of suspected
cases they are checking.
Hong Kong confirmed its first swine-flu case on May 1, a
25-year-old Mexican man who arrived in the city from Shanghai
the previous day, and declared a public emergency.
The patient is in a stable condition, and there are no new
confirmed cases and no need to cancel community activities,
health officials said.
Hotel Quarantine
Metropark Hotel in Hong Kong?s nightlife center Wan Chai,
where the infected man stayed, will be isolated for seven days
and guests will be tested for infection.
Hong Kong is seeking to make contact with more than 60
airline passengers and hotel guests who may have had contact
with the man, the South China Morning Post reported today.
Six or seven guests at L?hotel Nina et Convention Centre in
the Tsuen Wan district of the city were examined after showing
signs of fever.
Hong Kong Chief Executive Donald Tsang urged the public to
remain calm, saying the government would ?rather take a
stricter approach than miss the opportunity to contain the
virus.?
?Well Equipped?
Hong Kong is ?well-equipped? to handle a swine flu
outbreak because of its experience six years ago with severe
acute respiratory syndrome, Tsang said April 30. That outbreak
killed 774 worldwide and caused travel to Asia to plunge.
Taiwan health authorities are tracking 26 people who
traveled on the same flight as the Mexican man. Health officials
in China?s southern Guangdong province were seeking to contact
11 people who were on that flight.
China has also quarantined 40 Mexicans on concerns the
virus may spread, Radio Television Hong Kong reported today,
citing the Mexican embassy in China.
Hong Kong?s Chow said he requested all airlines ensure
adequate health-care supplies, such as face masks and
disinfectant, are available for crew and passengers. All
airlines should let crews wear face masks, he said.
Cathay Pacific Airways Ltd., Hong Kong?s biggest carrier,
advised staff to check body temperature before going to work,
and will allow them to wear face masks at work, according to a
statement published on the company?s Web site.
Health Inspections
Health authorities in Hong Kong and the bordering mainland
Chinese city of Shenzhen began to enforce a mandatory health
declaration at the Lowu checkpoint yesterday. Travelers crossing
the border through other checkpoints will be required to submit
such a form before going through immigration, the Hong Kong
Department of Health said in a statement posted on the
government Web site.
The city?s international airport and all border checkpoints
will pay special attention to Mexican passport holders and give
them health inspections, Chow said. The government has decided
not to close schools, said Michael Suen, secretary for education.
Australia cut the number of suspected cases for the third
time in two days, with 76 people now being investigated, down
from 121 yesterday, according to the Department of Health and
Ageing Web site.
?We have no confirmed cases here,? Australian Health
Minister Nicola Roxon told commercial television today.
New Zealand, which has reported four confirmed infections,
has identified 13 cases as ?probable.? The number of suspected
patients has fallen to 89 compared with 101 yesterday, the
Ministry of Health said in a statement today.
There are 360 people in New Zealand that have been placed
in isolation and treated with Roche Holding AG?s Tamiflu, down
from 388 on May 1, the government said.
For Related News and Information:
Today?s most popular health-care stories: MNI HEA <GO>
Top health stories: HTOP <GO>
News about influenza: NI FLU <GO>
For charts on the number of cases and deaths, see SWINE<GO>
--With assistance from Heejin Koo in Seoul, Chris Cooper in
Tokyo, Bei Hu in Hong Kong, Glenys Sim in Singapore, Robert
Fenner in Melbourne and Dermot Doherty in Geneva. Editors: Jim
McDonald, Fergus Maguire.