Hours after Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal called for flights from Singapore to be banned citing a new COVID-19 strain, the city-state has countered the claims. In a statement released by the Ministry of Health, Singapore rubbished reports, stating that the prevalent strain in recent cases was the B.1.617.2 variant that was first detected in India.
"The new form of COVID-19 that has come to Singapore is being said to be extremely dangerous for children. In India it may come as a third wave," the Delhi Chief Minister had tweeted on Tuesday afternoon. Keeping the same in mind he urged the Central government to cancel air services with Singapore immediately.
While Singapore has taken measures to protest children (such as closing schools) amid an uptick in infections, there's no official indication that there is a new strain that has originated in the country. The authorities have said that many individuals have tested positive for the B.1.617.2 mutation detected in India.
"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," the Singapore in India embassy handle tweeted in response to Kejriwal.
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
Within the country, Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri too had responded to Kejriwal's post, assuring that the Centre was taking all precautions. "Kejriwal ji, all international flights have been stopped since March 2020. We have no air bubble with Singapore either," Puri said on Twitter.
केजरीवाल जी, मार्च 2020 से ही अंतर्राष्ट्रीय उड़ानें बंद हैं। सिंगापुर के साथ एयर बबल भी नहीं है।
— Hardeep Singh Puri (@HardeepSPuri) May 18, 2021
बस कुछ वन्दे भारत उड़ानों से हम वहाँ फँसे भारतीय लोगों को वापस लाते हैं। ये हमारे अपने ही लोग हैं।
फिर भी स्थिति पर हमारी नज़र है। सभी सावधानियाँ बरती जा रही हैं। pic.twitter.com/wOZMX0Q5CK
source https://www.freepressjournal.in/india/no-truth-in-the-assertion-singapore-responds-as-arvind-kejriwal-sounds-warning-about-new-covid-19-strain
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