SINGAPORE: 220 H1N1 CASES; SLOW MOVE TO MITIGATION STRATEGY

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 SINGAPORE 000603 SENSITIVE SIPDIS STATE FOR OES/IHB DHHS FOR OGHA EAP/MTS - MCOPPOLA BANGKOK FOR REO HOWARD E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: TBIO KFLU EAGR CASC ETRD ECON SN SUBJECT: SINGAPORE: 220 H1N1 CASES; SLOW MOVE TO MITIGATION STRATEGY REF: SINGAPORE 581 ¶1. (SBU) SUMMARY: Singapore health officials have confirmed 220 cases of H1N1 influenza as of June 24, including numerous cases of local transmission. With community spread of the virus confirmed, the Ministry of Health (MOH) announced June 22 that Singapore would begin the transition from a containment policy to a mitigation strategy. The Ministry outlined seven areas on which to focus its efforts in the new mitigation phase. However, actions and policies being instituted by MOH, the Ministry of Education, local schools and private companies appear to contradict MOH's stated policy. MOH has yet to lift travel advisories for "affected" areas, including the United States, and has quarantined American citizens, whether infected or not. New emphasis on community efforts to control the spread of the disease and strongly worded public calls for social responsibility could lead to some misinterpretations of policy and make the mitigation phase more onerous than containment if not handled correctly. End Summary. Singapore Moving to Mitigation Phase -------------- ¶2. (U) There have been 220 cases of H1N1 influenza confirmed in Singapore as of June 24. Growing evidence of community spread of the virus from June 18-21 (reftel) led the Ministry of Health (MOH) to announce on June 22 that Singapore would begin the transition from a containment policy geared toward controlling the spread of the H1N1 influenza virus to a mitigation strategy aimed at minimizing the effects of the virus outbreak. Singapore will not increase its alert level. In a June 22 press statement Health Minister KHAW Boon Wan praised the success of Singapore's containment measures, noting that they managed to keep community spread of the virus at bay for seven weeks. He mentioned that in that period the GOS successfully tracked down 1,000 known close contacts of confirmed H1N1 cases and "put every one in quarantine." ¶3. (SBU) Khaw acknowledged that Singapore would not be able to maintain such containment measures indefinitely, particularly as local transmission of H1N1 increases. He therefore outlined seven areas where MOH would focus its efforts under the new mitigation strategy. MOH will now: 1) adopt a more focused and scaled-down approach to contact tracing that will consider the need for contact tracing on a case-by-case basis; 2) step up laboratory capabilities to test for H1N1; 3) ensure that all public hospitals have the ability to treat H1N1 cases, not only Tan Tock Seng Hospital where all suspected H1N1 cases are currently sent; 4) create the capacity to treat patients with other medical conditions that might be more vulnerable to H1N1; 5) prepare and identify polyclinics and a few hundred general practitioners to act as Pandemic Preparedness Clinics, specially designated to treat suspect H1N1 cases; 6)secure H1N1 vaccines for the Singaporean public--Singapore is currently negotiating with H1N1 vaccine suppliers; and 7) evaluate the genome of the H1N1 virus, which Khaw said appears to be the same in Singapore as the virus in North America, contradicting a previous report indicating the virus was mutating significantly. Little Evidence of a Changing Approach -------------- ¶4. (SBU) Despite Minister Khaw's outline of the new mitigation strategy, the GOS has taken other contradictory steps indicating little will change in the immediate term. On June 23, the day after Khaw's press conference, MOH expanded its travel advisory list from 13 to 15 countries, including: Argentina, Australia, Canada, Chile, Dominican Republic, Japan, Mexico, Panama, Philippines, Spain, Thailand, United Kingdom, United States of America, Indonesia and Hong Kong SAR, recommending that people avoid unnecessary travel to those areas. Two more local resorts have been converted for use as quarantine quarters, increasing the number of people the GOS can house from 130 to 200. The Ministry of Education (MOE) has stated that the new school session will begin on June 29 as planned but MOE will issue a seven-day leave of absence for all students and faculty returning from travel to affected countries, regardless whether they show symptoms. According to press reports, approximately 4,500 first-year students at a local school, Republic Polytechnic, and some staff have been asked to stay home for seven days after nine students were found to be infected with H1N1. SINGAPORE 00000603 002 OF 002 ¶5. (SBU) Private companies are instituting their own measures to encourage or mandate that employees with recent travel to affected areas stay away from the office to help control the spread of the disease locally. The Straits Times conducted a survey of 27 locally based companies, asking whether they were quarantining staff. According to the report, several companies indicated they were not making home quarantine mandatory if someone had just traveled to an affected area, but the firms urge employees to stay home if they are unwell. However, some Singaporean companies, such as City Developments and United Overseas Bank, indicated they are requiring employees to stay home after travel to affected areas. The companies require employees to use annual leave to cover the quarantine period if the prior travel was personal, penalizing and discouraging the employees from traveling to an affected area by choice. ¶6. (SBU) MFA consular officer Alvin Low told Embassy Conoff on June 24 that MOH is no longer conducting contact tracing for people seated in proximity to an H1N1 case on a flight. People in contact with a local cluster of virus transmission will be quarantined. However, American citizens were still recently quarantined following flights. As of June 24, approximately 13 Americans were in quarantine, bringing the total number of those quarantined since the start of the H1N1 outbreak to about 57, including Americans quarantined at local quarantine centers, those placed under mandatory home quarantine, and confirmed H1N1 cases where individuals were admitted to the hospital. Risk of an Overzealous Community Response -------------- ¶7. (SBU) Minister Khaw has encouraged Singaporeans to "carry on with their lives normally" and said that Singaporeans will have to learn to coexist with H1N1, which he likened to other seasonal flu strains. However, emphasis is being placed on "social duty" and the responsibility of all Singaporeans to do their part to control the incidence of H1N1 infection. A June 24 Straits Times piece called on all Singaporeans to "act responsibly" by "staying away from school or workplace for a week if they have been to countries with active community spread," and added, "Lone thoughtless acts can have grave social consequences." Earlier in June, significant Singapore press coverage was devoted to reporting on and criticizing the actions of a German researcher who returned to Singapore from a visit to the United States and continued with his daily routine though he was later found to have H1N1. ¶8. (SBU) Such strongly worded public calls to action and criticism (in the case of the German researcher) could lead to misinterpretations of stated MOH policy and an overly zealous community response to control the spread of H1N1. There is no MOH guidance requiring a well employee to stay home after travel to affected areas, but some local companies are instituting such measures. Press quoted Education Minister Ng Eng Hen that there is no reason to delay the start of the school year, but he warned parents to be prepared for periodic school and childcare center closings in response to H1N1, which he described as a potentially "long and disruptive pattern." ¶9. (SBU) CDA raised concerns regarding GOS containment measures and their effect on American interests in a meeting with MFA on June 18 (reftel),noting that nuances in GOS policies and actions may be missed by people outside the government. SHIELDS