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Singapore Hospital Raising Caution Level After Doctor Dies of SARS
Aired April 22, 2003 - 15:06 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Now SARS in Asia. The sight of school kids wearing protective masks is more than a little sobering, but in Hong Kong today it's a sign that the schools have reopened after a three-week emergency closure. In recent days Hong Kong has seen the spread of SARS slow, but officials there are warning against complacency. SARS in Asia caught a number of governments by surprise. And not just governments, but health care workers as well. CNN's Andrew Brown reports on that from Singapore.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ANDREW BROWN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): About seven weeks ago, Dr. Lawrence Lee treated one of the first SARS patients admitted to Singapore's Tsang Tsuck Sing (ph) Hospital. At that time, Lee didn't know much about SARS and its lethal potential. He does now. One of the doctors who worked with him on that early case is already dead.
DR. LAWRENCE LEE, SINGAPORE DOCTOR: He got the disease and didn't -- and he possibly, unfortunately he was (UNINTELLIGIBLE) fiancee and he's about to get married in few months. It was very, very sad for everyone.
BROWN (on camera): Health care workers dealing with the worst SARS cases need a lot of courage. Dozens have been infected. Not because they weren't taking the right precautions. Many of them were just unlucky.
(voice-over): These days Lawrence Lee does everything he can to protect himself. He wears a gown, a mask and two pairs of gloves, and keeps them on, even when he's outside in Singapore's tropical heat.
This reception have where Lee screens patients for SARS was set up as an open-air facility to reduce the risk of cross infection. But even the tiniest flaw can lead to a new infection.
Lee says one of his colleagues caught SARS because her face mask was the wrong size.
LEE: She was from another hospital and they ran out of stock for the size of mask.
BROWN: The most infectious are in Tsang Tsuck Sing is the intensive care unit. Almost all visitors are barred from the ICU, flowers and food have to be delivered by hospital staff.
CNN was allowed to film here for only 10 minutes. Inside health care workers were using surgical respirators because of the extreme risk.
CATHERINE CHUA, NURSING OFFICER: Like you're taking mucous from the patient, then there is a chance of mucous going into contact onto your face.
BROWN: Catherine Chua says in her career she's never seen so many of her co-workers come down with a disease they're treating. That adds more stress to an already stressful job.
CHUA: It's very emotional this time. I'm very deeply affected.
BROWN: That doesn't mean Chua or the many other health care workers in Singapore are giving up. Each day they report back to work at Tsang Tsuck Sing, one of the frontlines in the battle against SARS.
Andrew Brown, CNN, Singapore.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
of SARS>
Aired April 22, 2003 - 15:06 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Now SARS in Asia. The sight of school kids wearing protective masks is more than a little sobering, but in Hong Kong today it's a sign that the schools have reopened after a three-week emergency closure. In recent days Hong Kong has seen the spread of SARS slow, but officials there are warning against complacency. SARS in Asia caught a number of governments by surprise. And not just governments, but health care workers as well. CNN's Andrew Brown reports on that from Singapore.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ANDREW BROWN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): About seven weeks ago, Dr. Lawrence Lee treated one of the first SARS patients admitted to Singapore's Tsang Tsuck Sing (ph) Hospital. At that time, Lee didn't know much about SARS and its lethal potential. He does now. One of the doctors who worked with him on that early case is already dead.
DR. LAWRENCE LEE, SINGAPORE DOCTOR: He got the disease and didn't -- and he possibly, unfortunately he was (UNINTELLIGIBLE) fiancee and he's about to get married in few months. It was very, very sad for everyone.
BROWN (on camera): Health care workers dealing with the worst SARS cases need a lot of courage. Dozens have been infected. Not because they weren't taking the right precautions. Many of them were just unlucky.
(voice-over): These days Lawrence Lee does everything he can to protect himself. He wears a gown, a mask and two pairs of gloves, and keeps them on, even when he's outside in Singapore's tropical heat.
This reception have where Lee screens patients for SARS was set up as an open-air facility to reduce the risk of cross infection. But even the tiniest flaw can lead to a new infection.
Lee says one of his colleagues caught SARS because her face mask was the wrong size.
LEE: She was from another hospital and they ran out of stock for the size of mask.
BROWN: The most infectious are in Tsang Tsuck Sing is the intensive care unit. Almost all visitors are barred from the ICU, flowers and food have to be delivered by hospital staff.
CNN was allowed to film here for only 10 minutes. Inside health care workers were using surgical respirators because of the extreme risk.
CATHERINE CHUA, NURSING OFFICER: Like you're taking mucous from the patient, then there is a chance of mucous going into contact onto your face.
BROWN: Catherine Chua says in her career she's never seen so many of her co-workers come down with a disease they're treating. That adds more stress to an already stressful job.
CHUA: It's very emotional this time. I'm very deeply affected.
BROWN: That doesn't mean Chua or the many other health care workers in Singapore are giving up. Each day they report back to work at Tsang Tsuck Sing, one of the frontlines in the battle against SARS.
Andrew Brown, CNN, Singapore.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
of SARS>
