Singapore, May 31: Singapore was officially removed today from the list of countries with recent local transmissions of SARS, boosting the city-state's efforts to revive its ailing tourism and related industries.
The World Health Organization (WHO) changed Singapore's status after it went 20 straight days without a new case of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) infection, but the island's government reacted with caution.


"It is a recognition of the comprehensive and rigorous measures that have been put in place in Singapore," the Ministry of Health (MOH) said in a statement late yesterday after being informed of the imminent delisting by WHO. "Notwithstanding the WHO announcement, there will be no pause in our efforts to maintain and further enhance all our existing measures to isolate and contain the disease and to prevent any export of the disease beyond our shores," it added.

A total of 31 people have died out of 206 SARS cases in Singapore, which has imposed some of the world's most stringent measures to contain the pneumonia-like outbreak, which has shaken East Asia and Canada.


"The possibility of a future imported case sparking of clusters of SARS cases in Singapore cannot be discounted," the MOH said.
Canada's capital Toronto had earlier been taken off the list of areas with recent infections but was put back on the list early this week, underscoring the volatility of the situation for all affected countries. Bureau Report