One more imported COVID-19 case in Singapore has tested preliminarily positive for the Omicron variant.

The case is currently recovering in an isolation ward at the National Centre for Infectious Diseases (NCID), said the republic’s Health Ministry (MOH) in its daily update on COVID-19 last night.

Labelled as Case 273611, MOH said the third case is a 37-year-old male Singapore permanent resident who arrived here from South Africa on board Singapore Airlines flight SQ479 on Dec 1.

“He is fully vaccinated, and has mild symptoms of fever and sore throat. He has not interacted with the community, and there is currently no evidence of any community transmission from the case,” it said.

The man’s pre-departure COVID-19 test in Johannesburg on Nov 29 was negative. Upon arrival in Singapore, he was isolated at a Stay-Home Notice (SHN) dedicated facility, and his polymerase chain reaction tests on Dec 1 and 3 came back negative.

On Dec 4, he developed a fever and sore throat and was conveyed to the National Centre for Infectious Diseases, where he tested preliminarily positive for the Omicron variant.

“The National Public Health Laboratory is conducting whole genome sequencing to confirm the variant,” said the ministry.

The MOH noted that he was on the same flight as two earlier Omicron cases, Cases 271487 and 271958, which were the first such infections to be detected in Singapore.

Singapore had on Dec 2 reported the two imported COVID-19 cases testing preliminarily positive for the Omicron variant where the confirmatory test results are pending.

All 18 other passengers on the flight have tested negative for COVID-19 infection and are isolated at designated SHN facilities.

Source: NAM News Network