Singapore confirms eight new coronavirus cases, total tally at 138

Singapore's Ministry of Health has reportedly confirmed eight new cases of novel coronavirus on March 7, taking the nationwide tally to 138. The new cases included four men and two women who are Singapore nationals as well as an Indonesian woman and an Italian man, as per the reports. According to the reports, three of them had a recent travel history. 

According to the reports, a 37-year-old Singaporean woman had travel history to London from February 23 to 27. Another confirmed case, a 56-year-old Singaporean woman went to Malaysia on February 21 and a 36-year-old Italian man was in the US from February 7 to 22, and in Italy from February 23 to 29, as per reports.

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Four of the confirmed cases reported on Saturday are linked to the cluster involving a private dinner function in the western region of Jurong, Singapore. The cluster resulted in accounting for 21 new cases in Singapore. Out of the 138 confirmed cases in the island nation, 90 have been discharged, 40 have been hospitalised and said to be in stable condition and eight are in a critical state, as per reports. 

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Minister urges people to be prepared

Singapore's National Development Minister Lawrence Wong has asked people and authorities to be prepared for 'new spikes' in COVID-19 cases. According to the minister, it is impossible to isolate and shut Singapore from the rest of the world and therefore Singapore has to prepare for new cases of the coronavirus. On March 3, Wong announced that Singapore will block the entry and transit of all visitors who travelled to Iran, northern Italy or South Korea within the last 14 days.

This measure in addition to several other precautions has taken effect from March 4. These measures according to Wong are meant to help reduce the risk of imported coronavirus cases in Singapore. The new coronavirus that is believed to have originated in a local seafood market in Wuhan has claimed nearly 3,600 lives across the globe and has infected more than 1,00,000 people.

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