Singapore confirms first case of new COVID-19 variant found in UK

File picture

The patient came to Singapore from the UK on December 6 and had been quarantined on arrival before testing positive on December 8.

Singapore has been conducting viral genomic sequencing for confirmed COVID-19 cases who arrived from Europe recently. 

The country's health ministry emphasised that there was no evidence that the new B117 variant is circulating in the community.

All of the patient's close contacts had been placed on quarantine but tested negative at the end of their quarantine period. 

Long-term pass holders and short-term visitors who have been to the UK in the last 14 days have not been allowed to enter or transit through Singapore since Wednesday.

More from International News

  • Israeli attacks on Gaza killed 60 people in 24 hours

    Israeli occupation forces committed multiple massacres against families in the Gaza Strip over the past 24 hours, resulting in the killing of at least 60 Palestinians and the injury of 162 others, according to medical reports.

  • Trump fires National Security Agency director

    U.S. President Donald Trump fired General Timothy Haugh as director of the National Security Agency on Thursday, according to two officials familiar with the decision, and congressional Democrats denounced the removal of the nonpartisan official from a top security post.

  • Israel steps up Syria strikes, says Turkey aims for 'protectorate'

    Israel stepped up airstrikes on Syria, declaring the attacks a warning to the new rulers in Damascus as it accused their ally Turkey of trying to turn the country into a Turkish protectorate.

  • US sending Israel 20,000 assault rifles that Biden delayed

    The Trump administration moved forward with the sale of more than 20,000 US-made assault rifles to Israel last month, according to a document seen by Reuters, pushing ahead with a sale that the administration of former president Joe Biden had delayed.

Blogs