Coronavirus: Singapore bank evacuated due to confirmed case

Text by: RFI Follow

DBS, one of the main banks in Singapore, vacated part of its premises on Wednesday 12 February. One person was diagnosed with Covid-19. Singapore is the second country most affected by coronavirus after China.

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With our correspondent in Southeast Asia, Gabrielle Maréchaux

The premises of Singapore's DBS bank, located on the 43rd floor of Tower 3 of the Marina Bay Financial Center, were evacuated Wednesday, February 12. The 300 Singaporean workers returned home at midday. The measure may seem radical, but Singapore has taken the threat very seriously since the start of the health crisis linked to the new coronavirus, which is called Covid-19 .

Cold, dry air helps spread the virus

With the confirmation of this new case, the balance sheet of patients on Singaporean soil now stands at 50. A figure which may seem derisory compared to the count of victims in China (nearly 45,000 people infected), but which nevertheless of this small state of 6 million inhabitants the second most affected by the epidemic.

A major financial center and hub of global air traffic, Singapore sees significant flows of people circulating every day. It was after a business trip to Singapore that a British national contaminated four people in France , in Haute-Savoie, cases confirmed on February 8.

A member of the Singaporean Ministry of Health pointed out that offices and homes where cold and dry air hovers, due to air conditioning, constitute an environment conducive to the vitality of the Covid-19. Hence the outright evacuation of the premises of the DBS bank.

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• Singapore
• Health and Medicine
• coronavirus

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