Singapore takes more tough steps to curb spread of Covid-19

In a show of social distancing, members of the press and panellists MOH director of medical services Kenneth Mak and Health Minister Gan Kim Yong were seated apart from one another at yesterday’s press conference. ST PHOTO: MARK CHEONG

Singapore has introduced more stringent measures to curb the spread of the coronavirus, including banning travellers from four European countries and deferring or cancelling ticketed cultural, sports and entertainment events with 250 participants or more.

From 11.59pm tomorrow, visitors with recent travel history to Italy, France, Spain and Germany will not be allowed to visit or transit in Singapore.

Residents have been advised to cancel non-essential trips to these places, and those who have been to these countries within the past fortnight will have to remain in their homes for 14 days on their return.

These measures already apply to China, Iran and South Korea.

Health Minister Gan Kim Yong, who co-chairs the multi-ministry task force on the coronavirus, said yesterday that the threat of imported cases of Covid-19 remained "serious and imminent".

Of the 200 cases here, 56 were imported. Of these, 32 were identified in the past 11 days - among these, 15 had travel history to Europe, and six were from Indonesia.

He advised people not to travel to other countries that also had high numbers of Covid-19 infections.

Mr Gan suggested they also avoid countries that were reporting low figures but had exported cases, indicating that the virus was spreading within their borders, though those infected had not been picked up.

The Ministry of Health (MOH) has listed eight countries to which non-essential travel should be avoided, and 10 for which people should exercise caution if travelling there, including Indonesia and Malaysia, as well as Britain and the United States.

In addition, starting immediately, anyone entering Singapore with fever or symptoms of respiratory diseases would have to stay at home for 14 days, even if his swab tests prove negative for Covid-19.

This was because the person's infection might be in the incubation stage, said National Development Minister Lawrence Wong.

Mr Wong, who co-chairs the task force, said: "You do not know whether later on, the viral load may go up, and that is why we want to take extra precautions and impose this full 14-day requirement."

Correction note: An earlier version of the article said that MOH has listed 18 countries to which non-essential travel should be avoided. It should be eight, and 10 for which people should exercise caution if travelling there. We are sorry for the error.

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A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Straits Times on March 14, 2020, with the headline Singapore takes more tough steps to curb spread of Covid-19. Subscribe