SINGAPORE: South Korea and Israel have told their citizens to defer travelling to Singapore due to the novel coronavirus epidemic, while Indonesia and Taiwan have recommended that precautions be taken when travelling to the island.
Travel advisories have also been issued by Kuwait and Qatar for Singapore, following the raising of Singapore’s DORSCON level to Orange on Friday.
As of Monday (Feb 10), confirmed coronavirus cases have risen to 45 in Singapore, where a business meeting at Grand Hyatt hotel has been identified as a transmission cluster linked to cases in Singapore, Malaysia, South Korea and Britain.
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In addition to mainland China, South Korea has “strongly advised” its citizens to refrain from travelling to Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam, Japan and Taiwan, reported The Korea Times.
Israel’s health ministry on Sunday said travel plans to Singapore, Thailand, South Korea, Japan, Taiwan, Macau and Hong Kong should be “reconsidered”.
The ministry also expanded its definition of a suspect patient to include people who have travelled to any of these territories within the last 14 days, and have a fever of more than 38 degrees Celsius, coughing, difficulty breathing or any other respiratory symptoms.
INDONESIA RAISES TRAVEL ALERT
Indonesia has also told citizens travelling to Singapore to be alert and take precautions to prevent the spread of the virus.
These include keeping physically and mentally fit, maintaining personal and environmental hygiene, washing hands routinely, wearing a mask, reducing outdoor activities as well as avoiding interaction in crowded public areas.
This advisory was published as Indonesia on Saturday raised the alert level for travel to Singapore to Yellow, the second level in a three-tier system.
Taiwan on Tuesday also raised its travel warning, advising people to take precautions if going to Singapore or Thailand, and not to visit Hong Kong or Macau unless they have to.
An expert from the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Tuesday the international business meeting held at the Grand Hyatt Singapore did not appear to have spread the virus widely.
“No, I think it is way too early and much more of an exaggeration to consider the Singapore conference event a ‘super-spreading event’,” said Dr Mike Ryan.
Singapore’s tourism sector is expected to take a “significant hit”, with visitor arrivals estimated to fall by 25 per cent to 30 per cent this year due to the novel coronavirus outbreak, the Singapore Tourism Board said on Tuesday.
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