Singapore downgraded its 2020 gross domestic product forecast for the third time as the COVID-19 pandemic batters the bellwether economy, the Trade Ministry said on Tuesday.
Coronavirus cases in Asia rose to a quarter of a million on Tuesday, according to a Reuters tally, driven by outbreaks in Singapore, Pakistan and India, even as China, South Korea and Japan significantly slowed the spread of the disease.
Anyone caught breaking Singapore’s social distancing rules can land themselves in prison from Friday after the city-state made it an offence for a person to intentionally stand close to another person as part of its coronavirus defense.
Scientists in Singapore say they have developed a way to track genetic changes that speeds testing of vaccines against a coronavirus that has killed more than 16 000 people worldwide.
The coronavirus spreading around the world from China is “starting to look like a global pandemic,” said Singapore minister Lawrence Wong, who co-heads the country’s virus fighting task force.
SABC © 2020
