THE Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) has introduced enhanced measures to combat the spread of the virus.
Nine cases of the H1N1 virus have been reported in the SAF this week, with seven cases detected from a cluster in Maju camp, among full-time national servicemen. Of these seven, two were detected on Monday, four on Tuesday, and one yesterday morning.
They come from two companies from one particular unit within Maju camp.
The first two infections were detected on Monday, when the servicemen booked out and were diagnosed at government hospitals.
All infected servicemen from Maju camp did not travel to any affected country recently, and did not have contact with any known cluster so far.
Outside the Maju cluster, the remaining two H1N1 cases were linked to the Butter Factory cluster.
Keep them separate
In view of the confirmed cases, and the community spread of H1N1 flu in Singapore, the SAF has rolled out several enhanced measures against the virus, which were announced at a media briefing last night.
One such measure involves physically separating the units with infected servicemen from other units in the same camp, to prevent possible infection.
Servicemen from infected units will also be separated on the company and platoon levels.
For example, food will be brought to the platoons, instead of having the platoons congregate at the cookhouse.
Outside of company-level exercises, platoons will also use training areas at different times from other platoons to minimise contact. There will also not be any meetings between the individuals in the platoons.
Within affected units, servicemen will have to take their temperature twice daily, instead of once a day for non-affected units.
The SAF will also separate certain critical operations units from other units to prevent the former from being infected, as much as possible. These critical units are those tasked to perform 24/7 duties, and have specialised skills which are not easily replaced by other SAF personnel. For example, they include forces meant to protect key installations in Jurong Island.
All SAF medical centres are now H1N1-ready. All healthcare workers there will be equipped with personal protective equipment.
Servicemen can be tested at these centres. Those with flu-like symptoms will be required to put on a mask, and will be separated from other servicemen who are reporting sick.
These servicemen will be seen by the medical officer, and will be tested with rapid-test kits, which take less than 30 minutes to determine if a serviceman has H1N1 or not.
Servicemen who are confirmed to be infected with the H1N1 virus will be referred to public hospitals for treatment and isolation.
Those who have been in close contact with infected servicemen will be issued with home quarantine orders, will have to monitor their temperature twice daily, and provide daily updates on their condition to their units.
The SAF will also undertake early surveillance to identity new cases early.
Chief of Army, Major General Neo Kian Hong, said that the main objective of these additional measures is to make sure that the SAF can continue to maintain operational readiness, take care of their personnel, and make sure that they can continue training.
The additional measures are on top of existing measures adopted by the SAF, such as observing good personal hygiene, monitoring one's temperature and symptoms, avoiding crowded places, and avoiding non-essential travel, especially to the affected countries listed by the Ministry of Health.
