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Wuhan coronavirus: Govt ‘overreacting’ to take preemptive steps but individuals should heed ‘best advice’, says PM Lee

SINGAPORE — Singapore is "not anywhere near" the point of a community spread of the Wuhan coronavirus but the Government is “overreacting” so that it can take preemptive steps to tackle the virus, said Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong on Friday (Jan 31).

Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong visited frontline staff at the National Centre for Infectious Diseases.

Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong visited frontline staff at the National Centre for Infectious Diseases.

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SINGAPORE — Singapore is "not anywhere near" the point of a community spread of the Wuhan coronavirus but the Government is “overreacting” so that it can take preemptive steps to tackle the virus, said Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong on Friday (Jan 31). 

But at the individual level, PM Lee urged the public to take on the “best advice” — such as those from doctors — on how to protect themselves and the community so that everyone gets through this period safely.

“I think as a government, in a way, we are overreacting because we are trying to look ahead to see what can go wrong and take preemptive steps to prevent that from happening,” said Mr Lee, who was speaking to the media at the National Centre for Infectious Diseases (NCID) after visiting staff there and thanking them for their work on the frontlines.

“If you see something didn’t go wrong, it is not just (a matter of luck) … it means we have done things which were right, and we are glad that it didn’t have to be tested.” 

The Government announced its multi-ministerial task force on Jan 22, a day before the first confirmed case here, while quarantine centres which can hold thousands were also being prepared before the first confirmed case. 

Among the raft of measures rolled out so far, preschools and student care centres have instituted temperature taking twice a day. Government schools have also imposed a 14-day leave of absence on students and staff who had recently travelled to China. 

Mr Lee was speaking before the Singapore authorities announced on Friday evening that they were raising travel restrictions from 11.59pm the next day, with all new visitors who have been to China in the last 14 days barred from entering or transiting through Singapore.

And with immediate effect, the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority stopped issuing all forms of new visas to those with People’s Republic of China passports.

The latest travel restrictions came two days after visitors who have been in China's Hubei province over the last 14 days or have passports issued in Hubei were barred from entering or transiting in Singapore.

On the issue of using face masks, Mr Lee cautioned that wearing one could prove to be “counterproductive”. 

“It may give you a false sense of security. You think you are safe, but in fact, your hands are dirty, your mask may be dirty when you take off your mask (and) you touch it. That's when you get infected not when you wear your mask,” he said, adding that Singapore has a sufficient stockpile to cater to everyone but not enough if people wore three or four masks a day.   

He added that while individuals all “want to protect our families and loved ones” especially children and the elderly, they should take into account the “best advice” on how to do that. 

As to what was considered “best advice”, he said he would go with a doctor’s advice in the current situation. 

“The doctors do not advise us all to wear masks walking around, it is not helpful,” he said. 

The shortage of face masks across major retailers has been a source of anxiety for many here. Some have also taken to hoarding face masks and selling them on online sites such as Carousell and Qoo10 for exorbitant rates. 

Two companies have said they will block users from the platforms should they continue to price their masks significantly above market rates. 

The Government announced on Thursday that it would be distributing a pack of four surgical masks to each of the 1.37 million households from Feb 1 to Feb 9. 

MITIGATING IMPACT ON BUSINESSES 

When asked about the impact that the virus will have on tourism, Mr Lee said that the current situation is “going to hurt us”, as China is a big source of tourists for Singapore. 

Adding that Singapore sees more than three million tourists from China in normal years, he said that “with (the virus), that has already tailed off considerably”. 

Mr Lee added that it is not just Chinese tourists that will be more cautious. 

“I think tourism from other sources will also tail off because everybody will be cautious and will stay at home and avoid travel. So I think the travel, F&B and hotel industry is bound to be significantly affected.”

With China in “semi-lockdown mode”, Mr Lee also expects the rest of the economy to be affected. 

“The economy is bound to slow down and our economy is quite tightly engaged with theirs, they're our biggest trading partner,” he added. 

“So we're working hard, the Ministry of Trade and Industry and other agencies are (working on) suitable measures to help businesses and help Singaporeans see through the crisis period.”

REDUCING ONLINE FALSEHOODS 

One difference between the present situation and the 2003 outbreak of the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (Sars) is social media and the potential spread of misinformation, said Mr Lee. 

“I’m very glad that we have Pofma (the Protection from Online Falsehoods and Manipulation Act),” he said. “During Sars, we did not have the social media, (but) this round you have the social media, (such as) WhatsApp, and all sorts of stuff circulating.”

He added that while some untruths are spread because people are uncertain and fearful of the situation, there are also people with more “malicious and deliberate” intentions.

“We've acted promptly against them using Pofma, and we are very diligent in putting out information as quickly as we get it and as quickly as we can verify it, in order to make sure that people know what it is, what is the truth,” he said. 

On Monday, the Ministry of Health issued a general correction directive under the fake news law against online forum HardwareZone and its operator SPH Magazines over a user’s post that someone had died from the Wuhan coronavirus.

On Thursday, the Government said that the website City News had published an article stating that five Singaporeans had contracted the Wuhan coronavirus without going to China and that there were 16 cases in total. 

The Government clarified on its website Gov.sg that this was not true and that there has been no evidence of the virus spreading in the community here. 

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Wuhan Wuhan virus coronavirus Lee Hsien Loong

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