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SINGAPORE: Thirteen new cases of COVID-19 were reported in Singapore as of noon on Thursday (December 24), the Ministry of Health (MOH) said in its daily preliminary update.
All the new cases were imported and given a stay-at-home notice upon arrival in Singapore, the ministry said.
No new cases were found in the community or in the dormitories of foreign workers.
Details of the new cases will be released Thursday night, the Health Ministry added.
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Singapore on Wednesday confirmed its first case of COVID-19 with the potentially most contagious strain of the coronavirus circulating in the UK.
Genome sequencing found that the patient, a 17-year-old woman who was studying in the UK, had the B117 strain of the virus, the Health Ministry said.
The student returned to Singapore on December 6 and was asked to deliver a stay-at-home notice at a dedicated facility. She developed a fever on December 7 and tested positive for COVID-19 the next day.
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The case was discovered while viral genomic sequencing of confirmed COVID-19 cases that recently arrived from Europe is underway.
Another 11 cases that arrived in Singapore between November 17 and December 17 tested “preliminary positive” for the virus strain. Confirmatory tests are pending, the Health Ministry said.
“There is currently no evidence that the B117 strain is circulating in the community,” the ministry said.
Singapore said on Tuesday that it will ban travelers who have been to the UK recently from entering or transiting the country.
Citizens and permanent residents returning from the UK will be required to undergo a COVID-19 test upon arrival and provide a 14-day stay-at-home notice at a dedicated facility.
As of Thursday, Singapore has reported 58,495 COVID-19 cases.
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