Singapore Raises Virus Response Level, Now on Par With SARS
Singapore Raises Response Level for Virus, Now on Par with SARS
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Singapore raised its national disease response level to Orange, its second-highest level and the same one used during the SARS epidemic, the Ministry of Health said Friday.
The city-state also confirmed three new coronavirus cases in Singapore. While investigations are ongoing, as of now no links have been found to previous cases, and the individuals don’t have a recent travel history to China.
Among new precautions Singapore is issuing, effective immediately:
- Event organizers advised to cancel or defer non-essential large-scale events
- Employers should require employees conduct regular temperature-taking, at least twice daily
- Schools to suspend inter-school and external activities through end of March school holidays; visitors limited to preschools and eldercare facilities
- Government advises people not to shake hands, use alternative greeting methods
- Says workers should turn away customers who appear unwell
- Those unwell should stay home or wear a mask if they must go out, such as to see their doctor
“If the situation worsens, we may well have to take more stringent measures beyond what we are announcing today,” Lawrence Wong, minister of national development, who co-chairs the multi-ministry task force set up to coordinate Singapore’s response to the virus, said at a briefing.
Next week’s Singapore Airshow, billed as Asia’s largest aerospace and defense event, will proceed with additional measures including seat tagging for seated events, mandatory temperature screenings and enhanced cleaning and refuse management, the organizer said in a statement Friday. The Singapore Yacht Show has been postponed to October.
The Orange designation means the nature of disease “is severe and spreads easily from person to person,” but “has not spread widely in Singapore and is being contained,” according to the Disease Outbreak Response System Condition color-coded framework. Singapore has never hit the highest level, Red.
Of Singapore’s 33 confirmed cases, two are currently in critical condition. Most of the remaining individuals are in stable condition or improving, the Ministry of Health said, while two have recovered and been discharged.
--With assistance from Yoolim Lee and Jasmine Ng.
To contact the reporters on this story: Derek Wallbank in Singapore at dwallbank@bloomberg.net;Philip J. Heijmans in Singapore at pheijmans1@bloomberg.net;Melissa Cheok in Singapore at mcheok2@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Chua Baizhen at bchua14@bloomberg.net, Joyce Koh, Shamim Adam
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