PM Lee Says ‘No Need To Panic’ As S’pore Is More Prepared For Wuhan Virus After SARS

SARS is the virus~ Wuhan is no challenge~  Now, I get that the lyrics make zero sense considering how everyone’s freaking out about the Wuhan virus, but please let me explain:

Firstly, I conjured the lyrics on the fly. And secondly, they kinda came about as a result of PM Lee’s announcement:

That there’s “no need to panic” in Singapore as the country’s “much better prepared” after the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) epidemic back in 2003.

Yes folks. As a hybrid of PM Lee / Phua Chu Kang would probably put it:

“SARS is the virus, Wuhan is no challenge.”

PM Lee Says ‘No Need To Panic’ As S’pore Is More Prepared For Wuhan Virus After SARS

According to Yahoo News Singapore, PM Lee has reassured the citizens of Singapore regarding the recent Wuhan Virus scare, stating that there’s “no need to panic” as the country’s “much better prepared” after the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) epidemic back in 2003.

Lee made his statement at the sidelines of the World Economic Forum meeting in Davos, Switzerland. Hours later, the Ministry of Health (MOH) confirmed the first case of the Wuhan coronavirus in Singapore.

“We have to be prepared for this. In fact, we have been preparing for this since SARS, because after SARs, we made a thorough review of what facilities we had – the infrastructure, hospitals, isolation wards, and the scientific testing and capabilities. I think we are much better prepared now,” said Lee.

“Science has made a lot of progress since SARS, so this time with a new coronavirus, the scientists have been able to come up to identify and sequence it much faster than what happened with SARS and share the information with other countries in a much more expeditious way,” said Lee, who added that China has improved in its handling of public health emergencies.

“It looks like this virus is not as lethal as SARS, but you do not know. It can mutate. We have to be as prepared as we can.”

Waging War Against The Wuhan Virus

Meanwhile, a task force led by Health Minister Gan Kim Yong and National Development Minister Lawrence Wong has announced that Singapore’s border controls will be expanded to encompass both land and sea checkpoints as well. According to Yahoo News Singapore, the preventative step was adopted in light of the predicted inflow of visitors during the Chinese New Year season, as well as the confirmed case that happened last night (23 Jan).

On Thursday night (23 Jan), the MOH announced the first victim of the Wuhan Virus in Singapore: a 66-year-old Chinese resident from Wuhan. Having arrived in Singapore from Guangzhou on Monday (20 Jan), he then stayed at Shangri-La’s Rasa Sentosa Resort and Spa.

The hotel has since sanitised the implicated rooms in question.

Thus far, nine close contacts of the case have been identified. The man’s currently being isolated at the Singapore General Hospital.

According to the report, a 53-year-old Chinese woman, who arrived in Singapore from Wuhan, has since been tested preliminarily positive for the strain.

Dark Days Ahead

PM Lee states that the government’s doing what it needs to do to handle the situation, with preparation processes being set up as we speak. According to AsiaOne, ICA’ll be implementing temperature screening at Woodlands and Tuas checkpoints.

Latest reports have also revealed that 25 people have fallen to the virus outbreak in China, with over 600 infected.

At least 15 cases have also been confirmed beyond mainland China, including in Singapore, the US, South Korea, Japan, Thailand, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Vietnam and Macau.

Wuhan Is No Challenge

Now do not misunderstand me. I’m not making light of the Wuhan Virus. After all, the Wuhan Virus is real, and it’s lethal. Many innocent people have fallen to it, and the numbers are only gonna go up from here.

However, fear is a choice. And fearing the Wuhan Virus is only gonna intensify the paranoia that’s sweeping the nation.

So do yourself a favour: take all the necessary precautionary measures, but believe in our nation’s preventative system…

And go about your life with as much gusto as before, because…

Sars is the virus, Wuhan is no challenge.

Meanwhile, you can learn more about the virus in the video.