Singapore has confirmed its first case of a new coronavirus variant, which first emerged in the United Kingdom last week and is said to be more contagious. <\/p>\n
In a statement late Wednesday, the Health Ministry said Singapore has been conducting viral genomic sequencing for confirmed COVID-19 cases who arrived from Europe recently.<\/p>\n
Among the 31 COVID-19 patients who arrived between Nov. 17 and Dec. 17, one was confirmed carrying the B117 strain, while 11 others were found infected preliminarily, and their confirmatory results are pending.<\/p>\n
All the cases had been placed on 14-day quarantine or isolated upon arrival, and their close contacts quarantined.<\/p>\n
The patient with the new variant is a 17-year-old female studying in the UK since August 2020. She returned to Singapore on Dec. 6, was quarantined upon arrival and confirmed to have the novel disease on Dec. 8.<\/p>\n
The Health Ministry said since she had been isolated upon arrival, “we were able to ringfence this case so that there was no further transmission.”<\/p>\n
“There is currently no evidence that the B117 strain is circulating in the community,” it said.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, as a precautionary measure, visitors with a recent travel history to the UK have been barred entry into the city-state, which has seen 58,482 cases and 29 related deaths. Citizens and permanent residents will be tested before starting the mandatory 14-day quarantine.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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