One S'pore hospital to handle SARS

One S'pore hospital to handle SARS

SINGAPORE: Singapore's health minister said the city-state would
devote one of its main hospitals to only treating patients with a
mysterious flu-like illness that has sickened 51 people locally
and hundreds worldwide.

Tan Tock Seng Hospital, which houses the Communicable Diseases
Center, will now only admit patients suspected of having severe
acute respiratory syndrome, or SARS, said Health Minister Lim Hng
Kiang on Saturday. Other patients there would be transferred out.

In a statement on Sunday, the health ministry said 48 people
with SARS have already been isolated at Tan Tock Seng, along with
at least 39 others showing symptoms. Nine were in critical
condition.

The confirmed cases in Singapore include some foreign
nationals who work in local hospitals -- five from the
Philippines, two from Malaysia and three from mainland China.

In neighboring Kuala Lumpur, the outbreak of SARS pneumonia
has affected Malaysia Airlines flights, especially to Hong Kong,
a news report said Sunday. --AP