Singapore confirms first case of Coronavirus

Pneumonia Coronavirus outbreak has now hit Singapore, authorities have revealed to the press.

Singapore.- In only a week, the Coronavirus Pneumonia outbreak has spread from Wuhan in China to Japan, South Korea, Thailand, Macau and now Singapore.

According to local authorities the first confirmed case is a 66 year-old patient from Wuhan, who arrived in Singapore on Monday.

He travelled with his family on a flight from Guangzhou, in China’s Guangdong province, Singapore’s Ministry of Health confirmed.

After feeling unwell, he received medical attention at the Singapore General Hospital on Wednesday. He was diagnosed with Wuhan-type pneumonia on Thursday and placed in medical isolation where he remains.

The arrival of the virus in Singapore happened on the same day that Macau confirmed its second case and cancelled its Chinese New Year festivities as a result.

Confirmed cases have also been reported in Hong Kong, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, the United States and Vietnam.

Singapore’s health authorities said on Thursday that the city expects more cases given large number of people travelling from China to Singapore.

It now plans to expand body-temperature screening operations to all immigration checkpoints in the city-state, including land crossings and sea ports. The measure was already in place at the city’s civilian airport.

On Friday morning, China’s National Health Commission confirmed the death toll from coronavirus had hit 25 out of 830 confirmed cases in the country.