As Singapore moves towards the mitigation phase of the battle against the Influenza A (H1N1) virus, the Ministry of Health has been working hard to meet the challenge.
But that is not enough. The public must do its part.
The main objective would be to prevent deaths and serious illness among vulnerable and high-risk groups.
Therefore, here are a few steps we should take: Keep clean Practise good personal hygiene.
Stay at home and avoid going to school, work or crowded places if unwell.
Keep your mask on When suffering from the flu, we should put on a surgical mask so that it can catch large droplets that we may cough or sneeze out.
Keep your distance
We should maintain a 2m distance between ourselves and others.
We should avoid crowds in enclosed spaces because when large droplets dry, they form smaller droplet nuclei, which can be airborne and infect others.
Keep your hands off
We should not touch our noses and mouths because our hands will transfer the virus onto objects, after which it can still be transmitted for 24 hours. We must keep our hands clean by washing them frequently with soap and water.
To break the chain of infection, the socially responsible thing to do is not just to avoid infecting others, but also to try our best to avoid being infected.
So, we should not feel embarrassed about putting on masks and we should not discriminate against those who wear them.
When faced with such a challenge on a national scale, we need to come together in the spirit of cooperation and unity. -Dr Lee Hock Seng
