Yesterday, 30 more confirmed cases of H1N1 flu were reported, bringing the total to 629. With a majority of new cases now locally acquired, it is clear that community spread is inevitable.

In a prescient statement last Tuesday, Health Minister Khaw Boon Wan said, “We have crossed the tipping point, beyond which local transmissions will grow rapidly.” Since then, the government has changed its erstwhile strategy of border control and contact tracing to detecting and prioritizing “high-risk” patients.

This has caused confusion amongst Singaporeans. Yesterday, A Madam Ong Tze Lin wrote into the Straits Times Forum to enquire as to why her husband was not even tested for H1N1 despite developing indicative symptoms and having possibly come into contact with carriers in the Maju Camp cluster.

The Ministry of Health replied to say, “We are… moving from containment to mitigation phase… the definition of ‘close contacts’ and the need for laboratory testing of ‘close contacts’ are progressively being tightened… In the case of Madam Ong's husband, the doctor must have decided his exposure was very low.”

Also, while aggressive action has been taken by certain clusters, others are seemingly lax in trying to curb transmission.

For example, in response to three Raffles Institution students being found to be infected after returning for overseas trips during their holidays, 500 students and 20 teachers have been quarantined in the Boarding Complex.

On the other hand, classes continue for all Republic Polytechnic students except those in the first year, despite there being already 49 cases associated with the school. Nearly 2,000 Year 2 and 3 students have signed an online petition for classes to be likewise stopped for them.

While we await more clarity in how the government is managing the spread of H1N1, what can we do as individuals to avoid infection and minimize transmission in the workplace? The Health Promotion Board’s advisory is to first take care of personal hygiene, wearing a surgical mask if we are unwell, and washing ours hands thoroughly and regularly with soap and water.

We should also act responsibly by continuing to quarantine ourselves after returning from infected countries and by monitoring for indicative symptoms, whether or not the government tells us to do so.

What measures have been undertaken at your workplace? Share them with us in the JobsCentral Forum.