SINGAPORE: Several Singapore-listed companies, with the latest being property giant CapitaLand, have temporarily closed or shortened their business hours in China amid the spread of the Wuhan virus.

CapitaLand on Wednesday (Jan 29) said it has closed six of its malls in China – four in Wuhan, where the new infectious coronavirus originated, and two in Xi’an – as required by the respective local governments.

These malls will reopen when “local conditions permit”, it said in a media release.

Its supermarkets in Wuhan’s CapitaMall Westgate and Xi’an’s CapitaMall Xindicheng, however, remain open to ensure supply of food and daily essentials to the local communities.

CapitaLand’s remaining 45 malls in various Chinese cities, such as Beijing and Shanghai, continue to operate with shorter hours. The company said it will continually review operating hours in line with local conditions and regulations.

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Its wholly owned lodging unit, The Ascott, is also “proactively extending assistance” to guests whose travel plans to China have been disrupted. This includes accommodating guests who need to stay longer and waiving cancellation fees for those who have to change their travel plans.

CapitaLand’s office properties in places, such as Shanghai, Zhejiang, Guangdong and Chongqing, will be closed until Feb 9 as stipulated by local governments.

The mainboard-listed property firm said all of its properties in China have adopted necessary precautionary measures according to guidelines from health authorities.

These include conducting temperature checks, as well as intensifying the cleaning and disinfecting of common areas. It will also conduct contact tracing and has designated premises at its properties for the isolation of people suspected to be infected with the Wuhan virus.

Group CEO Lee Chee Koon said the company is closely monitoring developments.

“We have set up a special task force to coordinate our response across our operations in China and in the various markets where we operate,” he said in the press release.

“To date, the group’s business operations, including in China and Singapore, remain largely stable.”

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Other Singapore-listed firms announced similar precautionary measures on Tuesday.

Dasin Retail Trust said it has further shortened the business hours of its five malls in China and temporarily closed crowded places in these malls such as cinemas and karaoke lounges. 

These measures were taken to “minimise contagious risk due to crowd gatherings”, the trustee-manager of the property trust said in a bourse filing.

It added that it will not temporarily close any of its malls “unless specifically requested by the government” and will continue to maintain at least six hours of business hours per day as required.

Sasseur Real Estate Investment Trust also announced that it has temporarily closed its four outlet malls in China’s Chongqing, Bishan, Hefei and Kunming.

READ: Wuhan virus in Singapore – What we know about the confirmed cases

Likewise, tourism company Straco Corp has temporarily shuttered its three attractions in China. 

In a bourse filing on Tuesday night, it said its Shanghai Ocean Aquarium, Underwater World Xiamen and Lixing Cable Car have been shut since Jan 25 on the advice of the local authorities to help prevent the spread of the coronavirus. 

The reopening of the attractions will “be announced in due course”, the company said, adding that it will continue to monitor updates and advisories from the local authorities.

The death toll from the coronavirus outbreak in China has risen to 132 – with 26 new deaths – as of end-Tuesday, with another 1,459 new cases confirmed.

The total number of confirmed cases in China stands at 5,974, according to the country’s authorities on Wednesday.

MORE: Our coverage on the Wuhan virus and its developments

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SINGAPORE: SARS was a very real experience for me.

I’ll never forget the sight of two men in scrubs, caps, gloves and masks arriving at our doorstep, after my mother called 995 when my fever and cough would not break despite days of flu medication.

It was 2003. Singapore was in the throes of the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS).

The sight that greeted me at Tan Tock Seng Hospital made fear of​​​​​​​ the virus very real.

Dozens of beds were laid around the A&E ward, which had been turned into an emergency site to deal with the challenge. A lot was happening. 

Medical professionals were busy drawing blood and taking people’s vitals. Nurses were following up with patients and ensuring those free from the virus left the place promptly.

Frozen in dread to the bed I was assigned, I looked awkwardly at many other patients who gave faint smiles, all of us thinking to ourselves some may have to face a life-threatening fight soon and might not live to tell it.

THE YEAR FEAR CAME TO OUR SHORES

SARS arrived on Singapore shores like a silent killer in the night. Although the first case broke in China in November 2002, the World Health Organisation (WHO) only issued an alert in March 2003.

It was unclear at first what the virus was, how bad it was and how long the crisis would grip Singapore.

Face masks and common cold medication were wiped off shelves. People started to stay away from public spaces, including hawker centres, malls and mass events, and shunned healthcare workers.

Questions were also raised about whether our healthcare systems were up to scratch in dealing with the threat.

With Singapore confirming its seventh case of the Wuhan virus on Tuesday (Jan 28), such scenes may have played out in the minds of concerned Singaporeans reading the news.

MORE: Our coverage on the Wuhan virus and its developments

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Many online have expressed concerns over the virus’ spread and anxiety that the situation could get worse.

Rumours and misinformation are a risk. A general correction order was issued to SPH Magazines for a Hardware Zone post falsely alleging a man had died from the Wuhan virus in Singapore.

REMEMBER IT AS A TIME OF DECISIVENESS NOT FEAR

But while fear may have been the memory of SARS that many Singaporeans have, what comes to my mind instead is how decisively control was wrestled back.

A Ministerial Committee chaired by then Home Affairs Minister Wong Kan Seng was established to drive the national response.

Strong action was taken. Home quarantine was imposed under the Infectious Disease Act, and schools were closed for almost two weeks.

To stem the spread, screening protocols were ramped up in most public places. Contract tracing was instituted and hourly temperature-taking became the norm.

An intensive public education campaign was also mounted. Tool kits were distributed to Singapore households.

Singaporeans understood the need for such actions to mitigate the risk and strongly supported these moves.

THE YEAR WHEN THE WORLD WORKED TOGETHER

The SARS outbreak also brought forth a strong level of regional and global cooperation.

Despite the disparaging vitriol over China’s initial slow reaction, governments in affected countries pulled out all the stops to curb the spread.

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) met in an emergency summit, initiated by then Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong, where a joint plan of action was agreed upon, including recommendations to standardise health declaration cards, temperature screening and information-sharing.

The WHO was enlisted to deploy consultants and field teams in support of national responses, including in investigations of a super spreader hospitalised in Singapore in March that year.

It set up a virtual network of public health institutions, health ministries and WHO country offices to exchange case experiences and findings that built up a comprehensive surveillance picture.

And it established case definitions and standards for global reporting, and published daily situational updates to enhance the flow of information.

Such activities helped to catalyse a thoughtful and concerted overall international response and developed standards and best practices in infection control and risk mitigation.

With the unprecedented level of international cooperation and strong action from governments, SARS was contained in a matter of months, despite the fact no vaccine or cure was ever developed.

READ: Commentary: Does it really matter if WHO hasn’t designated Wuhan virus a global public health emergency?

The WHO declared Singapore SARS free on May 30, 2003. The relief in the air was palpable.

BETTER PLANS THIS TIME AROUND

Speaking in Davos last Thursday (Jan 24), Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong urged Singaporeans to be calm but watchful, adding that the Government is well-prepared to deal with the new coronavirus.

PM Lee pointed to the establishment of a multi-ministry task force co-chaired by Health Minister Gan Kim Yong and National Development Minister Lawrence Wong.

Numerous plans to curb the risk of spread have since been stood up, including the set-up of quarantine facilities, increased border checks and a compulsory leave of absence for students and teachers from China, announced by the multi-ministry task force on Monday.

Public health capabilities in dealing with infectious diseases here have also since been enhanced after 2003. A new National Centre for Infectious Disease has replaced the decades-old Communicable Disease Centre.

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Academics from the National University of Singapore’s Saw Swee Hock School of Public Health are also enlisted in epidemiological research today.

REFLECTIONS ON SARS

Back to 2003. After blood tests and close observation, I was sent home with a somewhat clean bill of health: No SARS, just an incredibly strong bout of the flu.

To be sure, I was more fortunate than the over 200 Singaporeans who contracted the virus and the dozens who lost their lives, which include five healthcare workers who made the ultimate sacrifice in the line of duty.

Thinking back, what I was most grateful for was the kampung spirit and sense of togetherness the episode brought out.

For days while I rested at home, concerned neighbours unsure of whether contact was really still safe nonetheless popped by and left gifts of homemade soups and fruits with my mother.

Singapore has to be prepared that the Wuhan coronavirus outbreak could be worse than the SARS epidemic in 2003, National Development Minister Lawrence Wong said on Monday.

“Be psychologically prepared that this may take some time to unravel, but be assured too that you have a system in place,” he said, citing the inter-ministry coordination mechanisms and drawer plans in place for a full range of different scenarios of the virus outbreak.

Today, as fears of the Wuhan virus grow, many Singaporeans might recall 2003, the year SARS had Singapore in its grip.

But while that period has generally been framed as a cautionary tale of how pandemics can threaten societies, what comes to my mind is a more optimistic picture.

It was a time of international cooperation – when international collaboration and multilateral organisations played an important role in solving a transboundary challenge, and countries around the world exercised political will to bring the problem under control.

It was also a time when the Singapore Government bolstered public confidence in national institutions and Singaporeans were cautious but did not let the threat stop them from rallying together.

Lin Suling is executive editor at CNA Digital News where she oversees the Commentary section and the new Heart of the Matter podcast.

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