Singapore says no truth in Kejriwal's claim of 'new Covid strain'

NEW DELHI: Singapore’s health ministry has refuted claims of a Singapore variant of Covid-19. This was in response to news reports which said that Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has urged the Centre to stop flights from Singapore because of a ‘new COVID strain’.

“The Ministry of Health refers to the reports ....on 18 May 2021 (“Stop Singapore Flights: Arvind Kejriwal to Centre Over New COVID Strain”),” Singapore’s Ministry of Health said in its website. “There is no truth whatsoever in the assertions found within the reports. There is no “Singapore variant”.

The strain that is prevalent in many of the COVID-19 cases in recent weeks is the B.1.617.2 variant, which originated in India. Phylogenetic testing has shown this B.1.617.2 variant to be associated with several clusters in Singapore.”

Kejriwal had said in a tweet in Hindi that a new Covid strain found in Singapore is dangerous for children. It could come to India in the form of a third wave, he said. He urged the Centre to start working on vaccines for children. Later, he shared a link to a news, in which Singapore had warned that new virus strains are infecting more children.