Singapore envoy corrects Kejriwal, says only Indian variant COVID is active

New Delhi: Singapore on Tuesday dismissed the Delhi Chief Minister Aravind Kejriwal's tweet claiming that the 'new COVID variant' detected in the island city-state is said to be deadly for children and may bring in the third wave in the country.

Responding to Kejriwal's tweet, the Singapore High Commission tweeted that there is no such 'Singapore variant' and claimed that the variant in question is as same as the B.617 variant that is accelerating India's ongoing and alarming surge in Covid cases.

The commission assured that there is no truth in the assertion that a new covid strain is prevalent in Singapore.

"There is no truth in the assertion that there is a new COVID strain in Singapore. Phylogenetic testing has shown that the B.1.617.2 variant is the prevalent strain in many of the COVID cases, including in children, in recent weeks in Singapore," the tweet by the High Commission in India read.

There is no truth in the assertion that there is a new COVID strain in Singapore. Phylogenetic testing has shown that the B.1.617.2 variant is the prevalent strain in many of the COVID cases, including in children, in recent weeks in Singapore.https://t.co/uz0mNPNxlE https://t.co/Vyj7gyyzvJ

— Singapore in India (@SGinIndia) May 18, 2021

In a tweet earlier on Tuesday, Mr Kejriwal had said, "The new form of Corona that came to Singapore is said to be extremely dangerous for children, in India it may come as a third wave. My appeal to the central government: 1. Air services with Singapore to be cancelled with immediate effect 2. Vaccine options should be worked out for children too."

His tweet came amid concerns over a possible third wave, which according to experts is likely to target children. While the first wave has affected the elderly the most, it was the younger people who suffered the impact of the second wave.

The highly contagious B.1.617 variant was first detected in India and has now been found in several nations.

Singapore reported 38 new cases of Covid-19 infection on Sunday, the highest number in more than a year.

Earlier, Singapore's Health Minister Ong Ye Kung said in a press conference that the strain, B.1.617, "appears to affect children more".

"Some of these mutations are much more virulent and they seem to attack the younger children," Education Minister Chan Chun Sing was quoted as saying by news agency AFP.

Considering the surge in cases, the Singapore government has also decided to shut all the schools from Wednesday till May 28 and has also announced that it is preparing a plan to vaccinate youngsters.