FILE PHOTO: Singapore's Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong attends the 22nd ASEAN Plus Three Summit in Bangkok, Thailand, November 4, 2019. REUTERS/Chalinee Thirasupa

SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Singapore’s prime minister said on Friday that the city-state was well prepared to tackle the Wuhan flu virus, adding that it did not appear to be as deadly as the 2003 Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) pandemic.

The Southeast Asian city-state, a global travel hub, on Thursday confirmed its first case of the coronavirus strain, which originated in China, and said another case has preliminarily tested positive.

Singapore suffered 33 deaths due to SARS, making it one of the worst hit countries outside China.

“We are well prepared, because we have been gearing up for such a situation ever since we dealt with SARS in 2003,” Lee Hsien Loong said in an annual Chinese New Year speech.

“MOH (Ministry of Health) has now activated plans to counter the spread of the virus, which so far does not appear to be as deadly as SARS was.”