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SINGAPORE (Reuters) – Singapore on Thursday reported five locally transmitted COVID-19 cases, its highest number in nearly three months, and was seeking to verify two more suspected of being infected with a highly contagious variant first discovered in Britain.
The two people believed to be infected with the B117 variant, which has prompted new travel restrictions around the world, arrived from Britain this month and tested negative previously, the Health Ministry said on Wednesday.
Among them were a commercial airline pilot who developed coronavirus symptoms despite a negative test last week, and a person who tested positive despite completing two weeks of quarantine earlier.
“Epidemiological investigations are ongoing,” the Health Ministry said on Wednesday.
“All identified close contacts of the cases have been isolated and quarantined, and will be evaluated at the beginning and end of their quarantine period so that we can detect asymptomatic cases.”
Although Singapore has recorded more than 58,000 coronavirus-related infections and 29 deaths overall, many occurred in outbreaks in overcrowded immigrant dormitories.
Its locally transmitted cases have typically been less than a handful each week, with a larger number imported and detected in quarantine. Singapore reported 25 new imported cases on Thursday.
Last week it confirmed its first case of the variant first found in Britain and preliminary tests indicated that 11 other quarantined people were also infected with it.
(Reporting by Aradhana Aravindan; Editing by Martin Petty)
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