COVID-19 strain in Singapore 'different', claims Delhi Health Minister Satyendar Jain

The Delhi Chief Minister called for cancelling all air services with Singapore with immediate effect on Tuesday, saying a strain of the coronavirus found in the Southeast Asian country could reach Delhi in the form of a third wave of the pandemic.

New Delhi: Amid criticism over Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal's Singapore COVID variant remark, Delhi Health Minister Satyendar Jain claimed on Wednesday that a 'different strain' of the coronavirus is spreading in the Southeast Asian country. His comments came hours after the government of Singapore conveyed to the Indian high commissioner its strong objection to Kejriwal's comments about a 'Singapore variant' of COVID-19. The Delhi Chief Minister called for cancelling all air services with Singapore with immediate effect on Tuesday, saying a strain of the coronavirus found in the Southeast Asian country could reach Delhi in the form of a third wave of the pandemic. "There are many strains of the coronavirus in India at present.... Their presence is ascertained through genome-sequencing. It is a different strain (in Singapore) indeed. Whether it is from Singapore, Delhi, America or London...What is important is that the strains are different," Jain told reporters. "It is wrong to say it is not a different variant.... The picture will be clear in some time. We will inform you about it," he said. Jain pointed out that the Delhi government had also called for cancelling flights from London last year.