New strain in S'pore hitting kids; suspend all flights: CM
Singapore's Ministry of Health says 'there is no Singapore variant', strain infecting kids is one first found in India
New Delhi: Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Tuesday appealed to the Central government to immediately cancel all air services with Singapore, claiming a new strain of Coronavirus there is said to be "very dangerous" for children.
Responding to the chief minister's appeal, Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri said only a few flights are being operated between the two countries under the government's Vande Bharat Mission to bring stranded Indians back, and added that "all precautions are being taken".
Taking to Twitter, Kejriwal on Tuesday said the new strain of Coronavirus could invade India in the form of a third wave.
"The new form of coronavirus in Singapore is said to be very dangerous for children. It could reach Delhi in the form of a third wave. My appeal to the Central government: 1. Cancel all air services with Singapore with immediate effect 2. Work on vaccine alternatives for children on a priority basis," the chief minister said in a tweet in Hindi.
It is believed CM Kejriwal's remarks were based on a media report and Dr VK Paul, member (health), NITI Aayog, told a briefing on Tuesday, "We are examining it".
Significantly, there has been no such discovery of a new variant of the Coronavirus, originating in Singapore, yet. In fact, according to authorities in Singapore, which is also seeing a renewed surge in Covid cases, schools in the city-state have been issuing strict guidelines for "Home-Based Learning" and they claim that they are doing this because the B.1.617 variant might be affecting more children there, according to reports in local media in Singapore.
Moreover, the Ministry of Health in Singapore reacted to the remark and denied the existence of any "Singapore variant", saying, "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."
In fact, the Singapore Embassy here retweeted the CM's post and also denied his claims, saying, the children in Singapore are being infected more this time because of the variant that was first found in India.