Singapore Minister Warns of Spike in Coronavirus Cases

Singapore, Mar 4 (PTI) A Singapore Minister has warned of spikes in the novel coronavirus cases in the country as the health ministry reported two new cases of the fast spreading disease.

National Development Minister Lawrence Wong asked people and authorities to be prepared for "new spikes" in COVID-19 cases in Singapore.

"We will be exposed to new waves of infection and increasingly it will not be possible to stop the virus at our borders. We also cannot isolate Singapore and shut ourselves from the world," the Health Ministry said.

"So, despite our best efforts, we have to be prepared for new spikes in COVID-19 cases in Singapore, as has happened elsewhere," it said.

Singapore is blocking the entry and transit for new visitors who travelled to Iran, northern Italy or South Korea within the last 14 days, Wong said on Tuesday.

The measure, which takes effect on Wednesday, is among the additional precautions Singapore is taking to help reduce the risk of imported coronavirus cases in Singapore.

"We have been monitoring the virus situation very closely and, as all of you know, it is spreading very quickly to countries everywhere. And Singapore, as a small, open city connected to the world, we face a higher risk of imported cases," Wong told reporters at the National Press Centre.

"That's why the taskforce has decided to take additional precautions for travel in and out of Singapore," added Wong, who co-chairs the multi-ministry taskforce for COVID-19.

However, Wong pointed out that "despite our very best efforts, we have to be mentally prepared for the number of infected cases in Singapore to go up", Channel News Asia quoted the minister as saying.

"... the number of cases rising by just a handful every day. But this may not be the norm and it can change very easily. You see this in other countries too, where you have very few cases for a few days and then suddenly, one incident occurs and there is a sharp spike in cases and sustained transmission.

"This has happened elsewhere; it can happen in Singapore too," the Channel quoted Wong as warning.

In the meantime, 'Contact tracing' is underway for the other coronavirus cases to establish any links to previous cases or travel history to affected countries or regions, said the ministry.

Singapore has recorded 110 cases till Tuesday, 14 of which were from the Wizlearn Technologies in the Science Park hub on the West Coast of the city state.

No patients were discharged on Tuesday. To date, a total of 78 people have been discharged from hospital.

Of the 32 patients who are still in hospital, most are stable or improving.

Seven are in critical condition in the intensive care unit, the ministry added.

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)