Covid-19: Amid Singapore strain face-off, Kejriwal chairs review meeting

Amid a Singapore Covid-19 strain face-off, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, on Wednesday, chaired a high-level review meeting that was attended by Health Minister Satyendar Jain and Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia.

While the Delhi government believes there is a new strain originating from Singapore that could lead to a third wave in India, the aspect of “Singapore strain” has been strongly refuted by the Singapore Government. External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, too, tweeted that Delhi Chief Minister does not speak for India and that “irresponsible comments” from those who should know better can damage long-standing partnerships.

Kejriwal’s review meeting came hours after Delhi Health Minister Satyendra Jain reportedly said on Wednesday that it is wrong to say there is no Covid strain particular to Singapore and that there are several strains in India. “I will give you a clarification on the Singapore strain very soon. I am sure there is a new strain in India ..(originating in Singapore),” Jain told reporters at his camp office in the capital.

Singapore refutes claims

Earlier, on Tuesday, Singapore dismissed media reports quoting Arvind Kejriwal that a very dangerous trend of the novel coronavirus was prevalent in the city state, saying there is no truth whatsoever in such assertions.

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Singapore’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs rejected and expressed regrets over Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal's “unfounded” assertions made on Facebook and Twitter on Tuesday that a variant found in Singapore was particularly harmful to children and could cause a third wave of infections in India.

“..there is no “Singapore variant”. The strain prevalent in many of the cases in recent weeks is the B.1.617.2 variant, which was first detected in India,” the Singapore Foreign Affairs Ministry statement issued on Wednesday said.

Meanwhile, India’s Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Arindam Bagchi confirmed that the Singapore Government had called in the Indian High Commissioner to convey strong objection to Delhi CM’s tweet on the ‘Singapore variant’.

“High Commissioner clarified that Delhi CM had no competence to pronounce on Covid variants or civil aviation policy,” Bagchi tweeted.

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On a placatory note, Minister of External Affairs S Jaishankar tweeted that Singapore and India have been solid partners in the fight against Covid-19.

“Appreciate Singapore’s role as a logistics hub and oxygen supplier. Their gesture of deploying military aircraft to help us speaks of our exceptional relationship,” said Jaishankar.

Taking to Twitter on Tuesday, Kejriwal had said that the new strain of coronavirus in Singapore 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) to work on vaccine alternatives for children on a priority basis,” the Delhi CM said in a tweet in Hindi.

Responding to Kejriwal’s tweet, Singapore’s health ministry said: “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 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.”

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