Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said on Friday, Feb. 14 that a recession in Singapore could be a possibility.

The impact of the novel coronavirus outbreak on Singapore's economy has already exceeded that of the severe acute respiratory syndrome (Sars) back in 2003.

The impact over the next few quarters will be significant as the country battles a "very intense outbreak", said PM Lee during a visit to Changi Airport Terminal 3.

"It's already much more than SARS, and the economies of the region are much more interlinked together. China, particularly, is a much bigger factor in the region."

"I can't say whether we will have a recession or not. It's possible, but definitely our economy will take a hit."

SARS hit Singapore in March 2003 and lasted for five months until July.

"That was, I think, very fast. I expect it not to be so fast this time," PM Lee said.

The tourism industry in Singapore has been affected.

The government is bracing itself for tourist arrivals to drop by between 25 and 30 per cent this year.

Can't shut down Singapore because of Covid-19

PM Lee told reporters at Changi Airport that he was visiting and speaking with a range of workers there.

The visit was an-hour-and-a-half long.

"I came to see how they work, to ask after them, make sure that they are well, make sure they have what they need to do their jobs, and are well supported and all right - and are confident and know what's happening," he said.

Flights are down by a third and businesses have been hard hit, but staff and crew have to stay at their posts and keep Singapore open for business.

PM Lee said Singapore was not at the point yet of requiring the shutting down of the country.

And Singapore would still not have to shift its approach in dealing with the Sars-CoV-2 virus.

"But it's an evolving situation. Every day brings new developments and we cannot be sure which way it will go. So we have to watch and we have to respond quickly but you have to go, you have to make a judgment at each point, what is the right thing to do now," he said.

"We have to keep on, keep Singapore going and we have to keep making a living. Life has to go on. So we have to calibrate and judge as we go on each step, what is the most prudent thing to do."

Asked about more clusters emerging, PM Lee said this does not yet constitute widespread community transmission.

He said most of these cases are still traceable to a particular source.

“So we will have to watch the trend,  how the trend goes, whether the numbers go up and also whether the cases are traceable and we can continue to do contact tracing and then squeeze out the clusters one by one,” he said.

Watch PM Lee's remarks here: