Singapore reports ‘preliminarily positive’ case of UK virus strain

One of the community cases reported in Singapore on Wednesday has tested preliminarily positive for the B117 strain, a potentially more contagious strain of the Covid-19 virus that is circulating in the UK.

In its full data released late last night, the republic’s health ministry said it involved a 24-year-old male Korean national, who is a work permit holder working at Azur, Crowne Plaza Changi Airport, 75 Airport Boulevard.

The ministry said his job entails delivering pre-packed meals to air crew and hotel guests although he does not interact with diners at Azur.

It said the man, labelled as Case 59028, tested positive in a pooled swab during rostered routine testing (RRT) on Jan 2, and was tested again two days later at which point he had started to develop acute respiratory infection symptoms.

His individual test results came back positive for Covid-19 on Jan 5, and he was taken in an ambulance to the National Centre for Infectious Diseases, it said.

“His serological test result has come back negative, indicating that this is likely a current infection. He has also tested preliminarily positive for the B117 strain, and is pending further confirmatory tests,” said the ministry.

As at noon Wednesday, the republic reported a total of 31 new cases, two in the community and 29 imported, bringing the total tally to 58,780.

The two cases in the community, including Case 59028, are currently unlinked.

Of the total new cases, 30 were asymptomatic, and were detected from the ministry’s proactive screening and surveillance, while one was symptomatic.

Singapore which closed its last coronavirus cluster, a migrant worker dormitory, on Nov 24, 2020, now has three clusters with one linked to the NewOcean 6, a bunker tanker operated by Palmstone Tankers & Trdg Pte Ltd in the Port of Singapore.