Singapore's Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew Still in ICU

Singapore's founding Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew has been put on antibiotics and remains in intensive care at a government hospital, the Prime Minister's Office said in a statement today.

The update came after the government had to quash widespread rumours late on Wednesday that the 91-year-old patriarch had died.

"He remains sedated and on mechanical ventilation. His doctors have restarted him on antibiotics, and are continuing to monitor him closely," the government statement said.

Lee, co-founder of the People's Action Party which has governed Singapore since 1959, was brought to Singapore General Hospital on February 5 for severe pneumonia.

The British-trained lawyer, the father of current Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, is widely credited with transforming Singapore from an economic backwater to a rich economy in just over three decades.