By Teh Joo Lin & Kimberly Spykerman

IT HAS happened.

The swine flu, now renamed the Influenza A (H1N1) infection, has surfaced in Asia. Hong Kong has become the first territory in this part of the world to record a confirmed case.

The victim is a Mexican tourist who arrived in Hong Kong on Thursday from Mexico via Shanghai. He was admitted to hospital on Thursday night with a fever and tested positive yesterday. Hong Kong Chief Executive Donald Tsang said he was in stable condition.

The Metropark Hotel in Wanchai district where he had been staying was cordoned off, he said. Fully gowned and masked health workers were later seen entering the hotel.

New drive to Clean Up Singapore
NEA pushes for higher hygiene standards and revives 'Singapore's OK'
By Lee Hui Chieh & Amresh Gunasingham

LIFT buttons, hand rails, door handles and other commonly touched surfaces are the next targets in the national bid to stave off Influenza A (H1N1) here.

The virus can be spread via such surfaces, if those infected touch them and leave secretions, and others then touch the surfaces and put their secretion-stained hands to their eyes, noses or mouths.

The National Environment Agency (NEA) will send advisories to building managements to recommend that they use disinfectants to clean these surfaces.

Be socially responsible, not complacent about flu: PM
By Goh Chin Lian

SINGAPOREANS must do their part in preventing the spread of the new flu strain, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said yesterday in his first comments on the outbreak.

On the national level, Singapore's experience in fighting the Sars outbreak in 2003 will be helpful in dealing with the current threat, he added.

'We have been preparing for a pandemic since 2004, five years,' he told 1,400 unionists and guests at the May Day Rally at the Downtown East complex.

Labs race to create speedy test for flu
Three teams here working on quick-detection kits for use at hospital or airport checkpoints
By Grace Chua

THE race is on to develop a speedy test for the new flu virus, and scientists here are rallying around the cause.

At least three teams in Singapore are developing test kits which can detect the Influenza A (H1N1) virus in a matter of hours, for use in hospitals, airports and other screening points.

Current diagnostic tests for the virus take about five days.

More die of 'regular' influenza
By Victoria Vaughan

THE world is bracing itself for a flu pandemic with more 160 people dead from a new strain of virus so far. But each year, far more Singaporeans suffer a fatal dose of seasonal flu.

A study by the Health Ministry and the Singapore General Hospital revealed that, on average, 588 Singaporeans die of regular influenza every year.

The deaths from flu account for about 3.8 per cent of all deaths in Singapore each year - rates comparable to the United States and Hong Kong.

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