SINGAPORE: Twenty-five cases of a COVID-19 virus variant originally reported by the United Kingdom have been detected in Singapore, said the Ministry of Health (MOH) on Friday (Jan 29).
In an email response to CNA's queries, MOH said that of the 25 cases of the B117 variant, five are community cases and 20 are imported cases from Europe as of Jan 26.
AdvertisementAdvertisementThere are another two imported cases from Europe that have tested "preliminarily positive and are pending confirmatory results", said the ministry.
The B117 SARS-CoV-2 variant is one of a few mutated strains of the coronavirus to have caused concern around the world as it is said to be potentially more contagious.
Singapore reported its first B117 COVID-19 case on Dec 23, a 17-year-old Singaporean student who had returned from the UK on Dec 6 and served her stay-home notice at a dedicated facility.
[h=3]READ: Singapore confirms 1 COVID-19 case carrying UK virus strain, 11 others 'preliminarily positive'[/h] AdvertisementAdvertisementAnother strain, the South Africa 501Y.V2 variant, which could be more transmissible, may even affect the effectiveness of current COVID-19 treatments and vaccines.
MOH said there have been no cases of 501Y.V2 found in Singapore so far.
MOH INVESTIGATING IF COMMUNITY CASES ARE LINKED
The five B117 community cases are Cases 59028, 59059, 59084, 59340 and 59351. Epidemiological investigations are ongoing to determine if the five cases are linked, the ministry added.
AdvertisementAll close contacts of the cases, including those who have tested preliminarily positive for the variant, have been isolated and placed on quarantine.
MOH said it may also perform additional active case finding "to detect and ringfence cases as early as possible when there are cases which test preliminarily positive for the B117 variant".
"No new cases have emerged from the community cases so far, and we hope that our efforts have ringfenced the cases and prevented further transmission," said MOH.
[h=3]READ: What we know about the COVID-19 cases in Singapore that tested positive for the B117 strain[/h]"It is important for everyone to continue to play their part and remain vigilant to mitigate the spread of COVID-19."
The National Public Health Laboratory performs viral genomic sequencing for all confirmed cases, MOH added.
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