Singapore raises coronavirus response level to the same as SARS

In response to the coronavirus, Singapore on Friday raised its national disease response level to orange — the country’s second-highest and the same level that was used during the SARS epidemic, Bloomberg reports.

The heightened response level comes after the city-state’s Ministry of Health confirmed three new cases of the coronavirus that weren’t immediately linked to previous cases. Additionally, none of the new cases had recently traveled to China, where the outbreak began.

Several new precautions became effective immediately, such as employers requiring employees to check their temperature twice daily and the cancellation of extracurricular school activities. The government also recommended that people refrain from handshakes.

“If the situation worsens, we may well have to take more stringent measures beyond what we are announcing today,” Lawrence Wong, Singapore’s minister of national development, said at a press conference.

In total, Singapore has 33 confirmed cases of the virus, with two people in critical condition.