Singapore confirms first case of new Covid-19 strain from UK; 11 others ‘preliminarily positive’

SINGAPORE — The Ministry of Health (MOH) confirmed on Wednesday (Dec 23) that one imported Covid-19 case in Singapore carried the potentially more contagious B117 strain that was first discovered in the United Kingdom, while 11 others have tested “preliminarily positive”.

In its update of the coronavirus situation here, MOH said that the National Public Health Laboratory has been performing viral genomic sequencing for confirmed Covid-19 cases who had arrived from Europe recently.

This is in light of the B117 strain that is circulating in the UK.

MOH said that a total of 31 imported cases from Europe — who had arrived in Singapore between Nov 17 and Dec 17 — tested positive for Covid-19 in December so far.

Of these, 12 were not infected with the B117 strain.

“One (case) has been found to carry the B117 strain. Five samples cannot be sequenced due to their low viral load, and we are pending confirmatory results for another 11 cases who are preliminarily positive for the B117 strain. Two cases have not been tested so far,” MOH said.

The ministry, however, stressed that there is “currently no evidence that the B117 strain is circulating in the community”.

“All the cases had been placed on 14-day stay-home notices at dedicated facilities or isolated upon arrival in Singapore, and their close contacts had been quarantined earlier.” 

Elaborating on the case that tested positive for the B117 strain, MOH said that the person is a 17-year-old Singaporean who had been studying in the UK from August this year.

She returned to Singapore on Dec 6 and served her stay-home notice at a dedicated facility upon arrival. She then developed a fever the next day, and was confirmed to have Covid-19 on Dec 8.

Her case was included in Singapore’s case count on the same day, MOH said.

“All her close contacts had been placed on quarantine, and had tested negative for Covid-19 at the end of their quarantine period. As she had been isolated upon arrival in Singapore, we were able to ring-fence this case so that there was no further transmission arising from her,” the ministry said.

As a precautionary measure to reduce the risk of spread to Singapore, the governmental Covid-19 taskforce announced on Tuesday that from Dec 23 at 11.59pm, all long-term pass holders and short-term visitors with recent travel history to the UK within the last 14 days will not be allowed to transit through or enter Singapore.

Returning Singaporeans and permanent residents will be required to undergo a Covid-19 test upon arrival in Singapore, at the start of their 14-day stay-home order.

On Tuesday, Education Minister Lawrence Wong said that the strain had not been detected in Singapore yet, but that it was of concern to the Government.

Mr Wong, who is co-chair of the task force, said: “The preliminary assessment is that it is 70 per cent more infectious, which is significant, and therefore we think it is prudent to stop all incoming travellers from the UK during this period until we are able to learn more about this new strain of the virus.” 

The Government also needs to understand whether the strain could lead to a more severe disease or other impacts, he added.

“Those are areas that we still need to understand further, and I think having this additional precaution now is necessary and prudent, because of the uncertainty and the risk.”