SINGAPORE – The Singapore Health Ministry yesterday confirmed the Omicron variant in two earlier imported Covid-19 cases initially suspected to be carriers of the same.
In its daily Covid-19 update last night, the ministry said the confirmation follows the completion of whole-genome sequencing for the cases by the country’s National Public Health Laboratory.
“Both are fully vaccinated and have mild symptoms of cough and scratchy throat. They were isolated upon arrival in Singapore on December 1, and had not interacted in the community,” it said.
The ministry had on December 2 announced that it detected two imported Covid-19 cases, labelled as cases 271487 and 271598, which had tested preliminarily positive for the latest variant.
The two infected persons arrived from Johannesburg, South Africa, on board Singapore Airlines flight SQ479 on December 1.
The ministry also announced on Sunday (December 5) that one more imported Covid-19 case had tested preliminarily positive for the Omicron variant.
This person was on the same flight as the other two individuals.
As of December 5, those who have completed their full regimen or received two doses of Covid-19 vaccines constitute 96% of the eligible population here.
With regard to the total population, 87% have received at least one dose and 28% their booster shots as well.
As of yesterday, Singapore reported a cumulative Covid-19 caseload of 269,873 with 763 mortalities. – Bernama, December 7, 2021
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