Singapore detects first cases of Omicron BA.4 and B.5 in the community
SINGAPORE has detected 3 locally transmitted cases involving new Covid-19 variants of concern, the Ministry of Health (MOH) announced on Sunday (May 15) night.
Of these, 2 cases were infected with the Omicron BA.4 variant, and 1 with the BA.5 variant, which appear to be even more transmissible than the highly contagious Omicron BA.1 and BA.2 variants that have driven the recent wave of the epidemic in Singapore in 2022.
The MOH said it “will step up local surveillance efforts and continue monitoring the spread of BA.4 and BA.5 in Singapore” and urged vulnerable people – such as the unvaccinated and those above 60 – to get boosters and be cautious in “settings with many potential contacts”.
Separately, Health Minister Ong Ye Kung warned the day before that “we are all likely to see new waves in our countries, either a resurgence of Omicron wave as our societal immunity wanes, or a new variant that drives re-infections”.
Speaking at a weekend meeting of regional health ministers, Ong disclosed they have discussed mutual recognition of vaccine certificates – a stepping stone to similar systems with other regions, such as United States, China, India and the European Union.
He also noted the real risk of waning immunity against Covid-19 and said: “Internally, Asean can collaborate better to ensure that vaccine supplies are available for those who need them, such as doing more to facilitate vaccine donations and swaps among us.”
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Meanwhile, the minister lauded the set-up of the Asean Centre for Public Health Emergencies and Emerging Diseases, which is expected to give early warning of new variants of concern and other infectious diseases.
The latest cases were the first community cases of BA.4 and BA.5 to be detected in Singapore, and were identified through whole genome sequencing on positive samples, which the MOH called “part of our active surveillance of the Covid-19 situation”.
The patients were fully vaccinated and boosted, and were either asymptomatic or showed mild symptoms such as fever, cough, runny nose and sore throat, according to the MOH, adding that they did not require hospitalisation.
More than 1,000 cases of BA.4 and BA.5 infection have been reported in more than a dozen countries since the variants were first identified by South Africa in early 2022.
Singapore registered 2,594 local Covid-19 infections, 57 imported cases, and 1 death on Sunday, taking the infection count to 1,242,884 and the death toll to 1,363. Some 92 per cent of the population have been fully vaccinated, and 75 per cent have received boosters.
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