PM Lee urges Singaporeans to stay united in facing coronavirus outbreak

Singapore, Feb 8 (PTI) Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong on Saturday urged people of his country t to panic and remain united as vel coronavirus outbreak which has claimed over 720 lives continues to wreak havoc in China and abro.

death toll from virus outbreak, which first surfaced in Wuhan city in Central Hubei province of China, has risen to 723 with confirmed cases soaring to 34,598, including 33 from Singapore.

"We have faced 2019-nCoV situation for about 2 weeks w. People are understandably anxious & fearful, but re is need to panic — Singapore has ample supplies. Inste, let us remain united & resolute, stay calm & carry on with our lives," prime minister said in a tweet.

He vised Singaporeans to "take cour" and "see through this stressful time toger".

Lee said situation was still evolving, with each day bringing new developments, which Singapore has to respond to promptly and dynamically.

While most of coronavirus cases in Singapore have eir been imported, or linked to imported cases, re have been some that cant be traced to source of infection, said Lee.

"se worried us, because it showed that virus is probably alrey circulating in our own population," he said.

Singapore moved its disease outbreak response up a level to orange on Friday as coronavirus spre furr within country, with three new cases anunced of unkwn origin.

Under Disease Outbreak Response System Condition, or Dorscon, code orange means outbreak is deemed to have moderate to high public health impact.

China and countries around world are scrambling to contain spre of coronavirus. Apart from China, two deaths have occurred in Hong Kong and Philippines.

Besides Germany, Britain and Italy, or European nations with cases of virus include France, Russia, Belgium, Sweden, Finland and Spain.

Meanwhile, a number of exhibitors have withdrawn from next week's Singapore Airshow as of Saturday, with Canian aero firms De Havilland Cana and Viking Air pulling out of event, as impact of coronavirus widened, according to media reports.

Longview Aviation, which mans its subsidiaries De Havilland Cana and Viking Air, said in a statement on Saturday that it will cancel participation of its subsidiary companies, in light of increased alert level anunced by Singapore government and Ministry of Health.

US heavyweight Lockheed Martin said on Friday it will t participate in next week's Singapore Airshow over coronavirus concerns.

"Following Singapore Ministry of Health's February 7 declaration of a Code Orange health alert, we consulted with US government and our medical teams and decided t to participate in Singapore Airshow," company said in a statement.

stepped up precautionary measures following outbreak, however, did little to dampen mood of thousands of Hindu devotees, who turned out to seek blessings and fulfil ir vows in this year's Thaipusam festival, an annual celebration in hour of Lord Subramaniam (also kwn as Lord Murugan).

presence of signs reminding people who are unwell t to enter temple premises, as well as rmal scanners and sanitisers were signs that this year's Thaipusam was slightly different from previous years, Straits Times reported.

But religious procession went on as usual and drew some 11,500 devotees, highest participation since 2013, in part helped by Thaipusam falling on a weekend. PTI GS MRJ MRJ