By Desmond Wong, Channel NewsAsia | Posted: 28 May 2009 2140 hrs
Temperature screening at Singapore hospital with first confirmed H1N1 case
SINGAPORE: Companies in Singapore are prepared to take the measures needed to combat any outbreak, according to business leaders, following news of the first confirmed H1N1 case in Singapore.
They say economic issues remain a more significant concern and the H1N1 news is unlikely to dampen sentiment among firms currently struggling to survive the current global downturn.
Phillip Overmyer, Chief Executive, Singapore International Chamber of Commerce, said: "If you look, for example, at the United States where the number of cases has started to swell, as the disease has migrated up from Mexico and across the United States. While there are a lot of people getting sick, it is not impacting the economic forces that are going on. You don't hear that the Dow Jones went down because of the flu."
Business leaders also note that Singapore firms are no strangers to disease outbreaks, having faced SARS in 2003.
The business community has tools in place to manage the impact from any H1N1 outbreak among their employees.
Still, they argue that companies should not be complacent.
Teng Theng Dar, Chief Executive Officer, Singapore Business Federation, said: "Just the pandemic preparedness alone is not enough. More critically is that when we have a situation, we must have a very systematic, very structured approach, in such a way that we are able to continue with our business."
With their measures in place against H1N1, and a trust in the government's ability to manage the disease, the business community says that they can confidently get down to handling another major crisis, namely the flagging global economy.
- CNA/yt
From ChannelNewsAsia.com; see the source article here.
Temperature screening at Singapore hospital with first confirmed H1N1 case
SINGAPORE: Companies in Singapore are prepared to take the measures needed to combat any outbreak, according to business leaders, following news of the first confirmed H1N1 case in Singapore.
They say economic issues remain a more significant concern and the H1N1 news is unlikely to dampen sentiment among firms currently struggling to survive the current global downturn.
Phillip Overmyer, Chief Executive, Singapore International Chamber of Commerce, said: "If you look, for example, at the United States where the number of cases has started to swell, as the disease has migrated up from Mexico and across the United States. While there are a lot of people getting sick, it is not impacting the economic forces that are going on. You don't hear that the Dow Jones went down because of the flu."
Business leaders also note that Singapore firms are no strangers to disease outbreaks, having faced SARS in 2003.
The business community has tools in place to manage the impact from any H1N1 outbreak among their employees.
Still, they argue that companies should not be complacent.
Teng Theng Dar, Chief Executive Officer, Singapore Business Federation, said: "Just the pandemic preparedness alone is not enough. More critically is that when we have a situation, we must have a very systematic, very structured approach, in such a way that we are able to continue with our business."
With their measures in place against H1N1, and a trust in the government's ability to manage the disease, the business community says that they can confidently get down to handling another major crisis, namely the flagging global economy.
- CNA/yt
From ChannelNewsAsia.com; see the source article here.
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