Bird flu in Singapore

The Republic of Singapore, the smallest country in Southeast Asia, is an island city-state, located on the southern edge of the Malay Peninsula (south of Malaysia). With an ancient history as a port city, it was colonised by the United Kingdom in the 19th century. Foreign investment and rapid government industrialisation has helped an ailing economy after obtaining the independence and now the country thrives from exports of electronics.

Singapore holds bird flu drill

Saturday, July 22nd, 2006

Singapore yesterday organized a bird flu pandemic drill to test the city’s readiness in the unfortunate case of such an outbreak. Students brought thermometers to school and hospital staff donned protective gear as part of the exercise, with more than 1,000 health workers and public servants took place in day one of the two-day “exercise Sparrowhawk”, besides 500 other volunteer patients. 19 different locations were involved in the exercise, including an airport, a ferry terminal, a border crossing to neighbouring Malaysia, as well as schools and hospitals. The city-state has recorded no bird flu cases so far, but authorities are taking no chances.

Posted in Singapore