South Korea, Israel issue travel advisory amid coronavirus outbreak

Amid rising concerns of coronavirus, South Korea and Israel have told their citizens to avoid travelling to Singapore, international media reported. The Asian country, at present, has the highest number of confirmed cases after China. The deadly virus has reportedly killed nearly 1,113 and infected over 44, 653 in mainland China.

'Avoid travel to seven East Asian countries'

Adding to the aforementioned two, other countries that have recommended precautions while visiting Singapore are Indonesia and Taiwan. Kuwait and Qatar have issued travel advisories suggesting their citizens avoid non-essential travel to Singapore in the wake of the deadly epidemic. Meanwhile, according to a report published in an Israeli daily, Health Minster Yakkov Litzman had advised his countrymen against travelling to seven East Asian countries in addition to mainland China.

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However, the Singapore Tourism Board (STB) stated that it doesn’t see any reason to avoid travel to the Asian country. STB chief executive, Keith Tan while talking to international media said that they see no reason for other countries to have travel advisories on Singapore. He added that they were very confident in the measures that the government had in place to contain the existing cases. 

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The tourism board has projected a 25 to 30 per cent decline in tourist arrival this year which is more than the drop when Singapore faced the SARS outbreak in 2003. At present, the country has reported nearly 45 cases of coronavirus infection. The World Health Organisation on Tuesday gave an official name to the deadly epidemic. The new name, Covid-19 stands for Coronavirus disease starting in 2019. In the name, the CO stands for corona, while the VI for virus and the D for the disease.

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On Wednesday, the biggest bank of Singapore, DBS evacuated 300 staff members from its head office as a precautionary measure after one coronavirus case was confirmed at the bank. According to the official press release by DBS, the employee was tested on February 11 and therefore, they vacated Marina Bay Financial Centre Tower 3 to work from home.