Both the Singapore and Indian governments have criticised Delhi CM, saying his comments were not based on facts and were 'irresponsible'.
Singapore has made it clear that there is nothing called a 'Singapore variant' saying that the new variant of COVID-19 that was discovered in the city-state was actually the Indian strain of the virus.
This comes days after the Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal tweeted on Tuesday that the so-called 'new Singapore variant' was very harmful to children and called on the Central government to immediately halt flights with the Southeast Asian nation.
Both the Singapore and Indian governments have criticised Delhi CM, saying his comments were not based on facts and were 'irresponsible'.
Meanwhile, Singapore on Thursday ordered Facebook and Twitter to carry a correction notice to users of the social media platforms in the country over what it says is a false statement about a new virus variant originating in Singapore.
The correction orders were issued under Singapore's fake news law, or the Protection from Online Falsehoods and Manipulation Act.
Singapore's stand
"There is no truth whatsoever in the assertions found within the reports," Singapore's Ministry of Health said in a statement late on Tuesday evening referring to the remarks published by India's Hindustan Times and NDTV.
"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," he added.
Singapore Foreign Affairs Minister Vivian Balakrishnan tweeted on Wednesday, "Politicians should stick to facts! There is no Singapore variant."
Testing has shown the India strain to be linked with several clusters in Singapore, which last month tightened border controls with the country, including a ban on visitors due to the deteriorating situation there.
India's stand
On the Indian part, the Spokesperson in the Ministry of External Affairs, Arindam Bagchi, said on Wednesday that the Indian High Commissioner P Kumaran clarified to the Singapore government that the Delhi Chief Minister had no competence to comment on COVID-19 variants.
Singapore High Commissioner responded, "We certainly appreciate the Indian government's crystal clear clarification and we are satisfied with it." "The facts are quite clear and those holding prominent political offices must have a responsibility not to propagate falsehoods," the Commissioner added.
Earlier, chiding CM Arvind Kejriwal, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar had said that the Delhi Chief Minister does not speak for India and that the two countries have been solid partners in combating the pandemic.
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