PM Lee Hsien Loong extended his gratitude earlier this evening to the country for its efforts in the fight against H1N1.

Speaking in English at the National Day Rally, he said: "It has been a big challenge for us these four months. I'm very glad that Singaporeans have responded well to this unexpected virus.

"So at the onset we reacted strongly. We raised our alert status to Orange.

"We did temperature scanning at entry points, masks and gowns in hospitals and clinics, we did home quarantine for suspects. And many people home quarantined themselves after they came back from overseas.

"Very soon it became clear that H1N1 was different from SARS - more contagious, fortunately less deadly.

He recalled how efforts were kept up to block the virus even after the alert was lowered to Yellow, to prevent a sudden spike of cases.

He said: "The whole of Singapore responded. The whole of the population responded. We had learnt our lessons from Sars.

"And we succeeded in delaying community spread, and slowing the impact on us. Perhaps we were lucky but I think what we did made a difference. I'd like to thank everyone who was involved in this. The doctors and nurses... the teachers... and so many more.

Fighting H1N1 had demonstrated the strength of Singapore's health care system, he said.

"This is how our health care system should work, not just against flu but all the time and for our long-term well-being.

"We have a good health care system, universally available and affordable to all. It is the envy of many countries.

"We must improve it, but don't upset it and discard it because we are doing right and good by our people," he said.