By CHEN HUIFEN

NORMALCY is creeping into Singapore three months after the global outbreak of Influenza A (H1N1), as organisations scale down their efforts to help contain the spread of the virus in recent weeks, albeit in a non-uniform way.

With the shift towards mitigation rather than containment, companies are putting away their thermal scanners, lifting travel restrictions and self quarantine practices. Even government quarantine facilities have been closed since July 31.

OCBC head of business continuity management Sigfried Ching said that the bank has scaled down its precautionary measures in accordance with the changes announced by the Ministry of Health (MOH).

With the move towards a mitigation phase between June and July, contact tracing is no longer required and temperature screening of visitors was discontinued.

'Our employees are also not required to monitor their temperature daily,' said Mr Ching. 'Employees in contact with known infected patients no longer need to practise self-quarantine, but they should monitor their own health closely and wear a mask and seek medical attention immediately if they develop flu-like symptoms.'

Group activities have also resumed. Childcare centre chain operator Cherie Hearts Group, which had previously suspended all outdoor and group activities, is now encouraging minimal large group and communal activities, combination of classes, events and gatherings.

EtonHouse International, too, has resumed group activities in early July but some of its centres have minimised them to err on the side of caution.

However, daily health screenings will continue at childcare centres and pre-schools. This has been in practice even before the Influenza A outbreak, as centres look out for other illnesses in young children including the hand, food and mouth disease.

Government schools have last week cut down the frequency of temperature taking, which used to be conducted once a day for students and staff.

'From Monday, 3 August 2009, temperature taking will be conducted twice a week and daily assemblies will resume,' said Ministry of Education. 'However, schools will continue to assess the need for mass activities and adopt the necessary precautionary measures for these activities.'

BT also found that pockets of organisations continued with temperature taking procedures right up to late July.

Upmarket ChinaOne bar was taking temperatures of customers at its entrance on a recent Friday night, while those who attended a certain convocation ceremony were screened late last month.

Notably, the food industry is also continuing with temperature screening. Gold Kili sales director Audrey Ho said that this is in part to sieve out staff who are sick - whether with H1N1 or not - to prevent them from spreading their illness to co-workers and thereby incurring higher medical costs for the firm.

Temperature screening also continues for staff and visitors to Thong Siek Food Industry's premises and is likely to remain for a while.

Chairman Lim Boon Chay explained that food manufacturers deal with products that could have an influence on public health and safety - 'so it is always better to be safe than sorry'.

'We also continue to have hand sanitisers placed at strategic points, so that everyone can be reminded to continually maintain a high level of hygiene,' he said.

Hospitals and polyclinics, too, still have their thermal scanners at their doors. They will continue to do so until the alert level is downgraded to green, from the current yellow.

Although acknowledging that critical public services and firms in the food supply chain are special, Nathaniel Forbes of Forbes Calamity Prevention believes that temperature screening can now stop.

'Companies and property managers can stop performing 'screening theatre' now, those little wayang performances in which someone waves an infra-red thermometer at employees entering a building,' he said. 'By the time an employee has a detectable fever, it's too late. He or she has been infectious for two days, maybe more.

'My favourite example of screening theatre: staff at a major medical building checking peoples' temperatures at the entrance. What's the point? Of course some of the people are sick. What do you think they're there for, anyway? Do you tell them they can't see a doctor if they have a temperature?'

According to an MOH health advisory on July 22, there is no recommendation for routine screening of staff and visitors for temperature and flu symptoms, but each firm 'should evaluate its own circumstances and implement temperature screening at its discretion based on its assessment of the risk'. Despite causing nine fatalities, the impact of H1N1 on companies has so far been less serious than Sars. Consultants said that it has been a good opportunity for companies to practise their business continuity plans.

'Organisations are beginning to fine tune and adjust their business continuity plans according to changes,' said Business Continuity Management (BCM) Institute president Goh Moh Heng. 'Prior to this, they tend to rigidly execute what they have planned and are not too flexible in their adaptation of the plans.'

With additional reporting by Justin Chan and Rachel Sim

This article was first published in The Business Times.