SINGAPORE: Travel advisories have been issued by Kuwait and Qatar for Singapore, urging citizens of both countries to defer travel plans unless necessary.

Kuwait was the first country to advise citizens not to travel to Singapore following the raising of Singapore's DORSCON level to Orange on Friday (Feb 7).



According to the Kuwait News Agency (KUNA), the Kuwaiti Embassy in Singapore urged citizens to delay travel plans to Singapore, and called on Kuwaiti citizens to leave the country.

Qatar's foreign affairs ministry issued a similar statement on Sunday (Feb 9) from the country's embassy in Singapore advising all Qatari citizens wishing to travel to Singapore to "wait until the conditions related to the Coronavirus calms, except for the most urgent need".





Citizens of both countries were advised to take necessary precautions, and to follow instructions issued by Singapore authorities through the Ministry of Health website.

They were also advised to avoid crowded places and malls and to contact the Qatari embassy in cases of emergency at +65 6593 9900, or the Kuwaiti embassy at +65 9834 4022.



Kuwait announced a travel ban to China on Jan 29, with ambassador to China, Samih Johar Hayat, calling on Kuwaitis to refrain from visiting China unless truly necessary, reported Dubai-based newspaper Khaleej Times.

Qatar Airways announced on Feb 1 it would suspend flights to mainland China until further notice

On Sunday, 3 new cases of the novel coronavirus were confirmed in Singapore, all with no recent travel history to China. This takes the total number of cases in Singapore to 43. Of these, six are in critical condition in intensive care.

There were a total of six fully recovered patients as of Monday morning (Feb 10).



The number of deaths from China's new coronavirus surged past 900 in mainland China on Monday after the hardest-hit province of Hubei reported 91 new fatalities.



In its daily update, Hubei's health commission also confirmed another 2,618 new cases in the central province, where the outbreak emerged in December.



The World Health Organization believes the number of new cases in China is "stabilising". But while it is "good news", the UN health agency cautioned that it was too early to make any predictions about whether the virus might have peaked.

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