SINGAPORE: SCHOOLS SHUT DOWN FOR FIRST TIME SINCE 1940'S AFTER TWO RESIDENTS DIE FROM MYSTERY PNEUMONIA

Record ID: 647198

  • Title: SINGAPORE: SCHOOLS SHUT DOWN FOR FIRST TIME SINCE 1940'S AFTER TWO RESIDENTS DIE FROM MYSTERY PNEUMONIA
  • Date: 28th March 2003
  • Summary: (U1) SINGAPORE (MARCH 27, 2003) (REUTERS) 1. SLV SHUT GATES OF PRIMARY SCHOOL; SCU PADLOCKED GATE; SLV SHUT PRIMARY SCHOOL (4 SHOTS) 0.18 2. SCU SHUT GATES OF JUNIOR COLLEGE; SCU NOTICE SAYING JUNIOR COLLEGE IS SHUT DUE TO SARS (2 SHOTS) 0.32 3. SLV/MV KINDERGARTEN CLOSED DUE TO SARS; SCU NOTICE (3 SHOTS) 0.45 4. MV MR. LEONG JUAN HAW WALKING WITH THREE YEAR OLD DAUGHTER, LEONG YING JIE 0.53 5. (SOUNDBITE) (English) MR. LEONG JUAN HAW SAYING "I suppose, in my personal opinion, I think it is the right thing to do, because right now everybody really don't know what exactly is SARS. It's okay just to shut for one week or two just to settle everything down. Otherwise, it creates difficulties for all of us parents but I suppose it's better than not doing anything about it and things get worse." 1.22 6. SCU NEWSPAPERS HEADLINES REPORTING SHUTDOWN OF SCHOOLS (3 SHOTS) 1.35 7. SLV FOOD CENTRE; MV SINGAPOREANS EATING AT FOOD COURT 1.43 8. (SOUNDBITE) (English) MR. STEVEN ANG, TAXI DRIVER, SAYING "Because everybody is taking precautions now, at this moment. Even now, personally I'm driving taxi also worry about this thing. Every passenger I pick up, after drop, alight, I will wind down my window and let the natural air come in." 1.57 9. (SOUNDBITE) (Mandarin) MR. ONG SAYING "I feel we must be careful. It's not up to you to feel afraid. Let's observe the situation for the next few days, if it worsens, then I will be afraid. But right now, I'm just a bit concerned." 2.09 10. SLV SINGAPOREANS EATING AT FOOD CENTRE 2.12 11. SLV/MV CHILDREN PLAYING AT PLAYGROUND 2.25 Initials Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved
  • Embargoed: 12th April 2003 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: SINGAPORE
  • Country: Singapore
  • Reuters ID: LVA1LIFK8LU2JOZ8BRG6022PV84Y
  • Story Text: Singapore has shut its schools for the first time
    since the 1940s after two Singapore residents died from a
    mystery pneumonia that has killed more than 50 people
    worldwide.

    School gates across the city state are shut on
    Thursday (March 27, 2003) after Singapore authorities reported
    five new cases of the illness, known as severe acute
    respiratory syndrome (SARS), and ordered 861 citizens to stay
    home this week in an unprecedented quarantine in the
    city-state of four million people.

    Seventy-four people have now been infected in Singapore by
    the virus, which has spread to Hong Kong, Vietnam, Canada and
    Germany, infecting 500 people worldwide. Suspected cases have
    been reported in the United States, Britain and Australia.

    Education Minister Teo Chee Hean said on Tuesday (March
    26) the school closures, the first since a polio outbreak in
    Singapore in the 1940s, begin on Thursday and will last a
    week, affecting around 500,000 children, most under the age of
    18.

    He added international schools in Singapore were advised
    to close, but said universities would stay open.

    Some pre-schools in Singapore have also taken the
    precautionary measure and closed their centres for the
    duration.

    Some parents have welcomed the move despite the
    inconvenience caused by it.

    "I suppose, in my personal opinion, I think it is the right
    thing to do, because right now everybody really don't know
    what exactly is SARS. It's okay just to shut for one week or
    two just to settle everything down. Otherwise, it creates
    difficulties for all of us parents but I suppose it's better
    than not doing anything about it and things get worse," said
    Mr. Leong Juan Haw (pron: leeong-jooann-how).

    Authorities said a Singapore man in his 40s died late on
    Tuesday from the virus, which World Health Organisation
    officials believe is linked to an outbreak in the Chinese
    province of Guangdong, bordering Hong Kong, which began in
    November.

    A Ministry of Health spokeswoman said another person had
    died but she declined to give details. State-run television
    said the second person to die was a Christian pastor.

    Singapore's schools were already on high alert after 2,000
    students were sent home feeling unwell on Tuesday. None of
    those have contracted the deadly virus but three children, all
    siblings, are now in hospital with the illness.

    And Singaporeans have also said they are taking
    precautions in the wake of the virus alert.

    "Because everybody is taking precautions now, at this
    moment. Even now, personally I'm driving taxi also worry about
    this thing. Every passenger I pick up, after drop, alight, I
    will wind down my window and let the natural air come in,"
    said Mr. Steven Ang, a taxi driver.

    "I feel we must be careful. It's not up to you to feel
    afraid. Let's observe the situation for the next few days, if
    it worsens, then I will be afraid. But right now, I'm just a
    bit concerned," said Mr. Ong.

    Some experts believe the sickness is caused by a new virus
    from the paramyxovirus family, a large group of microbes that
    includes germs that cause measles, mumps and respiratory
    infections, but the WHO says there could be other candidates
    too.

    Anger is mounting in Hong Kong, the epicentre of the
    outbreak, over what residents perceive to be a lack of urgency
    on the part of the government to halt rising infections. There
    are nearly 300 infected people in the territory and 11 have
    died.


  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2015. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
  • Usage Terms/Restrictions: None
Register