Latest / Health Matters / Lunar New Year 2025: Travel and safety tips amid rising respiratory virus cases

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Lunar New Year 2025: Travel and safety tips amid rising respiratory virus cases · Health Matters

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  Speaker 1: Now, Health Matters with Daniel Martin. Welcome into Health Matters
• 0:04
  Speaker 1: right here on CNA 938. I'm Daniel Martin, and I've
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  Speaker 1: got your health on my mind. A very popular trend
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  Speaker 1: during this period of time is a lot of people
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  Speaker 1: traveling during the festive season of Lunar New Year. But
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  Speaker 1: of course, it's not just Singaporeans that are traveling. When
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  Speaker 1: you think about the China market and the tremendous outflow
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  Speaker 1: of people traveling all across Asia and the world really.
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  Speaker 1: These high peak travel times are absolutely critical moments for
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  Speaker 1: us to think about protecting our health. There could in
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  Speaker 1: fact be a rise in respiratory virus cases because of
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  Speaker 1: these large outflows of people. Let's talk about it for
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  Speaker 1: the Lunar New year 2025 travel and safety tips edition
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  Speaker 1: of Health Matters. Joining me is the general manager for
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  Speaker 1: Public Health at International SOS, Doctor Hendrik Schultz is here
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  Speaker 1: on Health Matters. Welcome aboard, Doc. Thanks for being here.
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  Speaker 2: Um, thank you for having
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  Speaker 2: me, Daniel.
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  Speaker 1: So what are we talking about? I mean, are we
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  Speaker 1: talking about anticipated record breaking travel and travel is a well-known, uh,
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  Speaker 1: determinant of the spread of respiratory infection?
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, but luckily, uh, despite the fact that we have
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  Speaker 2: seen numerous respiratory virus outbreaks throughout Asia, uh, in this
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  Speaker 2: northern hemisphere winter, that's luckily coming to an end now. Um,
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  Speaker 2: I think that we as Asians have learned that um
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  Speaker 2: in crowded places, we mask up proactively. Um, and so
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  Speaker 2: certainly that is the first recommendation.
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  Speaker 2: Uh, noting that we have significant or we had significant
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  Speaker 2: respiratory outbreaks this last couple of months. Uh, they're all
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  Speaker 2: decreasing now, that's the good news. Um, but we, we,
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  Speaker 2: we need to be mindful that they're not gone yet. Uh,
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  Speaker 2: things like influenza, respiratory, sensitial virus, uh, one that's new
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  Speaker 2: kid on the block that's been around for more than
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  Speaker 2: a decade.
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  Speaker 2: Uh, the human meta pneumo virus and of course uh
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  Speaker 2: still some COVID hanging around. So certainly we're saying to people,
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  Speaker 2: if you're going to be in a crowded place, think
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  Speaker 2: about it, mask up if appropriate. Uh, secondly, stay well hydrated,
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  Speaker 2: you know, uh, with all the masses of people traveling, uh,
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  Speaker 2: there's likely to be delays along the line, especially with
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  Speaker 2: airline travel.
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  Speaker 2: Uh, which is a reason a lot of people choose
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  Speaker 2: land travel. The overcrowding becomes a problem. And then the
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  Speaker 2: last thing really to focus people's minds on is just
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  Speaker 2: good old simple personal hygiene. Washing your hands regularly with
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  Speaker 2: soap and water, uh.
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  Speaker 2: Great, if you can't get that, go for the hand sanitizer.
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  Speaker 2: But the reality is soap and water is actually still
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  Speaker 2: the best way. Yeah. We all learned about hand sanitizer
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  Speaker 2: because of COVID, uh, because COVID is a very specific
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  Speaker 2: virus with a fatty layer and you want the alcohol
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  Speaker 2: to resolve that. But for all these other piddly little
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  Speaker 2: viruses like influenza and HMPV and RSV.
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  Speaker 2: Good old soap and water is still the best. So, uh,
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  Speaker 2: don't forget that. But you need to wash your hands
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  Speaker 2: and think properly about the fact that you're washing your
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  Speaker 2: hands when you do it. Yeah. I mean, not the
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  Speaker 2: way I wash my hands, which is like hold your
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  Speaker 2: hand under the water, wipe it on a towel and
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  Speaker 2: leave them.
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  Speaker 1: Oh, that cursory wave of the hand under the treacle
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  Speaker 1: of water that spouts out. No, that's not a hand wash. Um,
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  Speaker 1: I'm very thankful that technology has stepped in. I've got
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  Speaker 1: this smartwatch and it's got this hand washing function where
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  Speaker 1: like it'll measure the 20 seconds countdown for you and
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  Speaker 1: tell you when you're done washing your hands.
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  Speaker 1: I like that. You know, it just reminds you to
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  Speaker 1: be a bit more mindful about how you're doing it.
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  Speaker 1: So it's nice to know that the hand washing, the
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  Speaker 1: good old hand washing that we all learned when we
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  Speaker 1: were kids, soap and water, rubbing under your nails, rubbing
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  Speaker 1: your hands together, could be gentle on your hands overall
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  Speaker 1: rather than uh lots of sanitizer actually. And it's something
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  Speaker 1: we all know how to do. I, I'm curious though, though,
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  Speaker 1: Doctor Schultz, why is it that when we hear about
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  Speaker 1: High travel periods like the Lunar New festive season or
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  Speaker 1: even during the Christmas period as well. Why do we
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  Speaker 1: always hear about potential spikes in respiratory infections? What is
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  Speaker 1: it about them?
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  Speaker 1: That lends so easily to transmission during those
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  Speaker 1: periods.
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  Speaker 2: The main thing is the fact that they are airborne,
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  Speaker 2: and so it is not just a case of you
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  Speaker 2: need to touch something to pick up the virus or
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  Speaker 2: you need to eat something to pick up the virus.
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  Speaker 2: It's the point that they're literally just hanging around in
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  Speaker 2: the air.
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  Speaker 2: And, and that is the problem is that these viruses
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  Speaker 2: are so small they can literally just be suspended in air.
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  Speaker 2: And so somebody is standing in a, in a queue
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  Speaker 2: waiting to board a train and the person in front
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  Speaker 2: of them is creating this cloud of viruses around them. Uh,
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  Speaker 2: and then you literally just walk through the cloud and
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  Speaker 2: you take a breath and oh my gosh, you're at
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  Speaker 2: risk of getting
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  Speaker 2: An infection.
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  Speaker 1: All I'm thinking about is that immigration queue that goes
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  Speaker 1: on and on and snakes and snakes and snakes and
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  Speaker 1: snakes and snakes in the airport because you're, you're literally
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  Speaker 1: walking past the same person about 10 times before you
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  Speaker 1: get to the immigration counter because of the zigzagging queue.
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  Speaker 1: One of the things International SOS has.
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  Speaker 1: communicated is, you know, the need for clear travel guidelines
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  Speaker 1: to avoid things like overcrowding and, and making sure that
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  Speaker 1: there's specific guidance with regard to that. It's gonna be
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  Speaker 1: hard because when it comes to the mass transit or
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  Speaker 1: mass traveling locations like the airports, it's all about clearing
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  Speaker 1: large groups of people fast.
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  Speaker 2: Yep, absolutely. And, and so that is again why we
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  Speaker 2: always talk about masks in places like airport terminals. You know, uh, um,
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  Speaker 2: on the plane, they've got these amazing HEPA filters and
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  Speaker 2: all these things. Your real risk is in the airport.
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  Speaker 2: Going in.
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  Speaker 2: And going out, especially going out when you're going through
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  Speaker 2: those immigration queues. And uh um and then that initial
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  Speaker 2: period that you're on the airplane because those fancy HEPA
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  Speaker 2: filters and air conditioners only really start working when that
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  Speaker 2: plane is in the air. So wear your mask until
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  Speaker 2: you're on the plane, uh, and then take it off
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  Speaker 2: once uh uh they switch off that.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah. So that's one good tip. Uh, and, and, and
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  Speaker 2: then the other thing is, of course, be careful what
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  Speaker 2: you touch, uh, you know, uh, and, and we all
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  Speaker 2: get hungry, uh, when we're standing in those lines or
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  Speaker 2: waiting for planes and things. So be careful also what
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  Speaker 2: you're eating.
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  Speaker 2: Uh, that's the other thing. And especially if once you
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  Speaker 2: reach your destination, you go out one evening and you
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  Speaker 2: have some lovely street food. Now I mean when we,
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  Speaker 2: when I came to Asia 20 years ago, uh, you know, uh,
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  Speaker 2: we were all very, very scared about street food in
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  Speaker 2: places like Malaysia, and Thailand and Cambodia and Vietnam. Yummy stuff.
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  Speaker 2: Now all I do is eat street food when I'm
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  Speaker 2: there because people have realized that it's an interest.
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  Speaker 2: of their tourism industry to have good hygiene, even at
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  Speaker 2: the level of street food. And so we've seen a
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  Speaker 2: drastic change. So it's not the danger it used to be,
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  Speaker 2: but always go for the, for the stalls for the
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  Speaker 2: long queues because you know that food is going to
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  Speaker 2: be fresh.
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  Speaker 1: Yes, indeed, they wouldn't have the customer if you've got
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  Speaker 1: repeated gastroenteritiss, let's put it that way. I'm curious about
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  Speaker 1: your view in terms of the vaccination protocols as well,
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  Speaker 1: influenza vaccine, COVID vaccine for traveling.
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  Speaker 1: Um, you know, we have tools, we become more familiar
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  Speaker 1: with the vaccination, um, concept, but I feel people have
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  Speaker 1: become a bit lax
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  Speaker 2: in the last year and there's a.
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  Speaker 2: As we learn more about COVID and the COVID vaccines,
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  Speaker 2: there's huge controversies going on at the moment, right? So
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  Speaker 2: the good news is, go for the good old trusted technology. Uh,
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  Speaker 2: you know, the way that we always used to make vaccines.
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  Speaker 2: Things like Siovac, Sinopharm in America, they've got Novavax. Uh,
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  Speaker 2: those are the ones that's really good to go for.
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  Speaker 2: Should we all be boosting? Probably not, but certainly, uh,
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  Speaker 2: elderly people, people like me who are older than 65, uh,
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  Speaker 2: people with immune compromised diseases, right, uh, chronic arthritis, uh,
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  Speaker 2: these sort of things where your immune systems are not
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  Speaker 2: what they should be, where in fact the treatment is
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  Speaker 2: to decrease your immunity.
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  Speaker 2: Uh, so autoimmune disease people on treatment and, and other
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  Speaker 2: immune compromised people. Those are the people that should be boosting, right.
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  Speaker 2: But I think, uh, the rest of us, we've had
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  Speaker 2: all our COVID shots, uh, we've all, most of us
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  Speaker 2: had one or two episodes of COVID. Uh, our immune
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  Speaker 2: system is pretty much geared up, uh, to that.
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  Speaker 2: Uh, and even though it doesn't give you full protection
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  Speaker 2: against getting the disease, it's certainly going to ensure that
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  Speaker 2: you have a very mild form of the disease.
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  Speaker 1: The other thing that I want to pivot to is
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  Speaker 1: the idea of your safety and your health whilst you're
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  Speaker 1: in the host country, once you've traveled abroad. I think
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  Speaker 1: a bad
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  Speaker 1: The mistake or habit that us Singaporeans have is we
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  Speaker 1: think everywhere is as safe as Singapore. Everywhere is as
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  Speaker 1: easy to travel around as Singapore and as convenient as Singapore,
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  Speaker 1: but that's not always the case, unfortunately, and getting reliable
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  Speaker 1: information and, and knowing where to go in terms of resources,
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  Speaker 1: in terms of your health, in terms of safety is
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  Speaker 1: quite important.
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  Speaker 1: Can you walk us through that because it is one
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  Speaker 1: of the recommendations from
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  Speaker 2: a couple of recommendations around that. I've mentioned already, right?
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  Speaker 2: It is not the way that no country produces the
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  Speaker 2: security that we have from a health perspective in Singapore, right?
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  Speaker 2: Uh, we are small, we are, are, can be highly regulated.
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  Speaker 2: It is efficient for government to do so. In, in
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  Speaker 2: other countries which are large with large populations and large
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  Speaker 2: informal food sectors, that is much more difficult to do.
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  Speaker 2: So one's got to be careful about that. And again
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  Speaker 2: talking about that next time before you travel, this time
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  Speaker 2: is not going to help because it takes about 10
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  Speaker 2: days for you to get immunity from a vaccine. Think
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  Speaker 2: about vaccinations against things like Shigela, like typhoid. Um, those are,
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  Speaker 2: and hepatitis A. Those are foodborne viruses and illnesses.
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  Speaker 2: That can be prevented with good vaccines. So
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  Speaker 1: it's
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  Speaker 1: worth checking out the country that you're visiting in 1
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  Speaker 1: or 2 months and seeing what might be the dominant
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  Speaker 1: health issues they're dealing with and see whether you should
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  Speaker 1: get vaccinated against that.
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  Speaker 2: Absolutely, that's, that's the way to go. And then at
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  Speaker 2: the same time, Singaporeans all travel with travel insurance, right?
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  Speaker 2: So find out who is your travel insurance medical provider
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  Speaker 2: in the company in the country that you're going to.
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  Speaker 2: So that you, when you're out there, know that you've
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  Speaker 2: got a phone XYZ hospital in Bangkok or you've got
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  Speaker 2: a phone uh ABC Hospital in Beijing. uh and certainly
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  Speaker 2: if
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  Speaker 2: You are in the fortunate position where you have a
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  Speaker 2: travel assistance company or a medical assistance company like international SOS,
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  Speaker 2: certainly reach out to them beforehand and get direct advice
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  Speaker 2: from from the guys who's going to be managing you
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  Speaker 2: should you get ill in the foreign country.
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  Speaker 1: So if you know that you're going to be doing
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  Speaker 1: some extreme sports, skiing at the top of a mountain.
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  Speaker 1: Double check and make sure that you've got some kind
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  Speaker 1: of evacuation aspect as part of your policy, for example.
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  Speaker 1: I know this is why I don't ski.
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  Speaker 1: Let's talk a little bit about uh uh one final
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  Speaker 1: point which is the idea of returning and returning home
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  Speaker 1: and potentially bringing stuff back with you. And I'm not
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  Speaker 1: talking about souvenirs, unfortunately, when the other, that's the other
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  Speaker 1: part of the spread of illnesses and diseases, right? It's
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  Speaker 1: when we bring it back home and to the office
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  Speaker 1: and to the office.
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  Speaker 2: No, absolutely. Although that is relatively minor and it's relatively
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  Speaker 2: minor because most of the things will be picked up
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  Speaker 2: uh with you having to declare them when you bring
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  Speaker 2: them in the dangerous things, right? So like animal products, etc.
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  Speaker 2: and certainly.
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  Speaker 2: Singapore ICA and the Port Authority absolutely
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  Speaker 2: knows which plane comes from, which country and which are
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  Speaker 2: the dangerous items coming from them. Like for instance, I'm
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  Speaker 2: an African, I come back from South Africa. I know
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  Speaker 2: they're gonna stop me if I have meat in my bag, right?
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  Speaker 2: Because it doesn't, it doesn't even have to, I don't
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  Speaker 2: even have to declare it. They pick it up on X-ray, right? So,
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  Speaker 2: so don't take chances and bring things back that that
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  Speaker 2: could be risky.
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  Speaker 1: So you can't bring back to Africa.
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  Speaker 2: Uh, Bakwa is a funny one, right? And, uh, um,
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  Speaker 2: sometimes people get lucky with it, but I tell you,
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  Speaker 2: find yourself a good bakawa still in Singapore. There's lots
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  Speaker 2: of them around. I won't name names.
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  Speaker 1: Likewise, if you're going to, you know about the agrarian requirements,
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  Speaker 1: the idea of bringing things in.
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  Speaker 1: Um, that's good to know. What about local medication? This
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  Speaker 1: is what people often do when they get ill. Of
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  Speaker 1: they pop to the nearest local pharmacy and they'll try
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  Speaker 1: the medications there to try and self-medicate or, or to
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  Speaker 1: deal with the problem of their own.
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  Speaker 1: Advisable or not advisable from a health perspective?
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  Speaker 2: OK, look, the days when generic medicines overseas were rubbish
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  Speaker 2: are gone, a large number of Singaporeans have learned they
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  Speaker 2: can get exactly the same quality medication, maybe with a
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  Speaker 2: different name in in some of our neighboring countries, right?
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  Speaker 2: at a much cheaper price, OK, and there's a whole
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  Speaker 2: host of reasons why medicines are priced differently in different countries.
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  Speaker 2: Singapore is in an unlucky position in that we're a
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  Speaker 2: small country with a small amount of consumers and so
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  Speaker 2: pharma companies have got a little bit of a handle
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  Speaker 2: uh to to charge higher prices in order to ensure
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  Speaker 2: being profitable. Um, and, and as a result, uh,
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  Speaker 2: Because we, we live in a country that is, has
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  Speaker 2: got an unregulated healthcare to a large extent. Uh, the
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  Speaker 2: point is, is we can get it much cheaper outside.
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  Speaker 2: The important thing is if you do buy medicine overseas,
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  Speaker 2: you can bring up to 3 months' supply of that medication,
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  Speaker 2: but
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  Speaker 2: Do make sure that you bring a prescription and if
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  Speaker 2: you didn't need a prescription to buy it, then certainly
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  Speaker 2: make sure that the medication has got a label on
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  Speaker 2: it in English with your name on it clearly stating
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  Speaker 2: what it is. That is the main thing. So if
• 15:28
  Speaker 2: you bring in a blue packet of tablets from Thailand
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  Speaker 2: and the only writing on it is Thai, you are
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  Speaker 2: probably going to have that confiscated at the border.
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  Speaker 2: But certainly if, if it's on there it says clearly
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  Speaker 2: what it is, and you don't have more than 3 months' supply,
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  Speaker 2: you will be allowed to bring it in.
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  Speaker 1: Good tips there, Doctor Schultz, thank you so much for
• 15:55
  Speaker 1: speaking to our listeners on some Lunar New Year 2025
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  Speaker 1: travel and safety tips, and of course, a reminder of
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  Speaker 1: the potential rise in respiratory virus cases as we anticipate
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  Speaker 1: record-breaking travel, uh, around the world due to this festive period.
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  Speaker 1: We've been talking about some great tips that you can't
• 16:11
  Speaker 1: bear in mind. He's the general manager for public health
• 16:13
  Speaker 1: at International SOS, Doctor Hendrik Schultz. This has been Health Matters,
• 16:17
  Speaker 1: and I'm Daniel Martin.
• 16:23
  Speaker 1: Before making any decisions based on the information in our program,
• 16:27
  Speaker 1: please consult a medical professional.