'Politicians Should Stick To Facts': Singapore Calls Out Kejriwal For His Sensational 'Singapore Variant' Statement

Singapore on Wednesday (19 May) refuted Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal's sensational claim that a new variant of Covid-19 found in Singapore was particulary harmful for children.

The Singapore Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) said that it "regrets the unfounded assertions made on Facebook and Twitter by Chief Minister of Delhi Arvind Kejriwal that a variant of COVID-19 found in Singapore was particularly harmful to children and could cause a third wave of infections in India".

"MFA is disappointed that a prominent political figure had failed to ascertain the facts before making such claims," it said.

"As highlighted by Ministry of Health in its press release of 18 May 2021, there is no “Singapore variant”. The strain prevalent in many of the COVID-19 cases in recent weeks is the B.1.617.2 variant, which was first detected in India," it added.

Earlier, Singapore's Ministry of Health (MoH) refuted the claim made by the Delhi CM.

The Ministry of Health refers to the reports published by Hindustan Times on 18 May 2021 ("Coronavirus variant found in Singapore can be India's 3rd wave, extremely dangerous for kids, warns Arvind Kejriwal") and NDTV on 18 May 2021 (“Stop Singapore Flights: Arvind Kejriwal To Centre Over New Covid Strain”), the Singapore Health Ministry said in a press release.

"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," it added.