Singaporeans have been told to put all travel on hold, and those who return from abroad will have to stay at home for 14 days to prevent any further spread of Covid-19.
The tough new measures were announced yesterday as the country reported 47 new cases - a new high - and most of them were imported.
This brings the total number of cases here to 313.
In line with recent trends, 33 of the new cases are imported, and 30 of them involve Singapore residents returning from abroad.
The new, broader measures to contain the coronavirus come as the country braces itself for a spike in infections.
The travel advisory takes immediate effect.
From 11.59pm tomorrow, all Singaporeans, permanent residents, long-term pass holders and short-term visitors entering Singapore will be served with a 14-day stay-home notice - they have to remain in their place of residence at all times.
As more Singaporeans, such as students and workers, return home, the country has to be mentally prepared that numbers could continue rising in the coming days, said National Development Minister Lawrence Wong, who co-chairs the multi-ministry task force set up to deal with the outbreak.
The rise in the number of infections revealed yesterday and in recent days was a cause for concern for all, Mr Wong said at a news conference yesterday.
"We cannot afford to take further risks if the number of imported cases continues to rise. That is why we are imposing additional border controls and travel restrictions today."
As far as Singapore residents are concerned, they have been told to defer all travel - a more stringent requirement than the earlier advisory to put off non-essential travel.
As for those returning to Sin-gapore, Mr Wong said: "This means a Singaporean coming back from anywhere in the world will have to serve a full 14-day self-isolation period."
As part of the more stringent measures, the Manpower Ministry said that from 11.59pm tomorrow, all new and existing work-pass holders planning to enter or return to Singapore from any country will have to obtain approval before they commence their journeys.
New measures are also being planned to increase distancing among people, especially among seniors and vulnerable people in the local community, to further reduce the risk of local transmission.
In addition, there will be extra precautions in place for children who have gone overseas during this period, with children having to stay at home for 14 days, even if this is before tomorrow's deadline.
This comes amid a sharp increase in the number of cases and widening spread of the virus across the world. There are now more than 208,000 Covid-19 cases across about 170 countries, and more than 8,200 deaths, with many countries experiencing an exponential rise in cases.
The number of new cases daily in Singapore has been on an uptick, with 14 on Sunday, 17 on Monday, 23 on Tuesday, and 47 yesterday, all of which were new daily highs.
Over the past three days, about 70 per cent of the new cases here were imported, and most of these were Singapore residents and long-term pass holders returning to Singapore after travel abroad, the Health Ministry said yesterday.
Task force co-chairman and Health Minister Gan Kim Yong said yesterday: "Today, we have 47 cases, we do expect to see higher numbers than this in time to come."
And the country has prepared for an increase in the number of imported cases over the next few weeks.
Mr Gan stressed that while healthcare capacity was still sufficient to deal with the current case load, with a sufficient buffer to manage new cases, the number of cases must be managed so as to reduce the peak case number in any day.
"We hope to have fewer cases, but that means the infection as a whole, the outbreak as a whole, may last a bit longer, so we have to be prepared for that, and this is part of the strategy that we are putting in place."
