Coronavirus

Singapore said on Friday it was banning entry to all Chinese visitors and foreigners with a recent history of travel to China in some of the most far-reaching moves worldwide to deter the fast-spreading coronavirus.
The ban, effective from Saturday, will also apply to transiting passengers but will exempt residents and long-term pass holders such as those on work permits, student visas or long-term visit passes, the health ministry said.

The move to suspend visas to mainland Chinese passport holders effectively shuts out the island's largest group of visitors and will also bar other travellers who have been to China in the last 14 days.

The ban does not apply to passport holders and travellers to Hong Kong, a special administrative region of China and Singapore's main rival financial hub in Asia.

It comes as the toll from the virus reached 213 on Friday, a day after the World Health Organization declared a global health emergency.

Those who flout quarantine orders may be fined up to S$10,000, jailed up to six months, or both in Singapore. A S$100 daily allowance will be given to quarantined individuals.

The Ministry of Manpower (MOM) is rejecting all new work pass applications for foreign workers from the Chinese province of Hubei with immediate effect, until further notice.
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