Singapore on Tuesday refuted reports that a new variant of the novel coronavirus was found in the country, insisting that the variant was B.1.617.2. that originated in India. The statement came after Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal asserted that the strain was extremely harmful to children and asked the Centre to suspend flights from Singapore.
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“There is no truth in the assertion that there is a new COVID strain in Singapore,” the country’s diplomatic mission in India said in a tweet.
“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,” it added, in response to Kejriwal’s tweet.
“There is no Singapore variant,” read a press release by Singapore’s Health Ministry, which the diplomatic mission shared.
“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,” it stated.
“Phylogenetic testing has shown this B.1.617.2 variant to be associated with several clusters in Singapore,” the release added.
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The B.1.617 lineage of coronavirus was first reported in India.
The World Health Organisation has designated B.1.617 as a
