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NANCHANG • Though many factories across China remain empty amid a mass quarantine campaign to curb the novel coronavirus from spreading, companies that produce masks are going all out to churn out much-needed supplies. China produces around 50 per cent of the world’s masks. However, the current outbreak has increased public demand and put great […]

PHUKET • The narrow laneways and pastel-coloured shophouses of Phuket Old Town are usually bustling with Chinese tourists during the Chinese New Year holiday, but travel bans and local fears about the coronavirus have largely emptied the streets this year. Just a handful of tourists, many wearing face masks, strolled through the area during daylight […]

SHANGHAI • Expatriates are leaving coronavirus-hit China – and not just from the outbreak epicentre in Wuhan – as worries about their children take hold and private healthcare facilities start turning away the feverish. Some foreigners also fear being trapped indefinitely as airlines cancel flights and countries quarantine or limit entry for people who have […]

SHANGHAI • More countries have restricted travel from China over the coronavirus epidemic – moves which have been described as an “overreaction” by some in Beijing. The US announced measures on Friday to ban foreign nationals who have recently been in China from entering their territories. The Trump administration also ordered citizens returning from central […]

BEIJING • China’s Premier Li Keqiang has asked the European Union to facilitate China’s urgent procurement of medical supplies from member countries, the Chinese government said yesterday, amid a coronavirus outbreak that has killed over 250 people. The number of deaths from the epidemic in China has risen by 46 to 259, the country’s health […]

Less than a month in, Singapore’s transport and tourism industries are already badly hit by the Wuhan virus situation. Ms Julie Cheong, president of the Food, Drinks and Allied Workers Union, said that while usual occupancy rates for this period can go up to 80 per cent, they are now only around 60 per cent. […]

China is doing all it can to contain the spread of the coronavirus, and Singapore’s efforts will complement this, said Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong. “We know that China is doing all it can to contain the spread of the virus. Singapore has been countering the novel coronavirus by isolating suspected cases and conducting contact […]

Singapore’s immigration officers have performed well under pressure, even as more checks have been progressively rolled out to contain the outbreak of the Wuhan coronavirus, Law and Home Affairs Minister K. Shanmugam said yesterday. “We have had to put in additional measures to check travel history and symptoms… (though) we don’t have that much additional […]

The first day of mask distribution at about 200 residents’ committee (RC) centres around Singapore went smoothly, despite initial concerns of a rush at collection points. At several RCs The Sunday Times visited, there were next to no queues and volunteers handing out masks often outnumbered the residents collecting them. The Government on Thursday announced […]

The transport and tourism sectors, worst hit by the coronavirus situation, will get targeted help in the coming Budget on top of broader measures to address any wider economic slowdown, Deputy Prime Minister Heng Swee Keat said yesterday. The measures will aim to address companies’ short-term cashflow needs, and retain and train workers in the […]