Singapore has confirmed its first case of the new coronavirus variant found in the United Kingdom. All the cases, which were imported from Europe, had been placed in 14-day quarantine at dedicated facilities or isolated upon arrival, and their close contacts had been quarantined earlier, reuters reported.
Referring to the new, potentially more infectious UK strain, Singapore’s health ministry said, “There is currently no evidence that the B117 strain is circulating in the community."
According to Reuters, the strain was found among 31 cases from Europe, who arrived in Singapore between Nov. 17 and Dec. 17 and were confirmed to have COVID-19 this month.
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The health ministry said it had been able to ring-fence the case so that there was no further transmission.
Singapore has blocked visitors with recent travel history to the United Kingdom to prevent the new strain from spreading in the city-state that has reported almost zero new local infections daily.