SINGAPORE, May 20 (AFP/APP): In view of the ‘false claims’ by an Indian chief minister of a new ‘Singapore variant’ of coronavirus, Singapore on Thursday ordered Facebook and Twitter to warn users about his “unfounded assertions”.
New Delhi’s chief minister Arvind Kejriwal claimed this week on social media a strain of the virus had emerged in Singapore that could trigger a new wave of cases in India, and urged a flight ban.
Singapore strongly rejected the assertion by the Indian chief minister.
There is no truth in the assertion that there is a new COVID strain in Singapore. 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.https://t.co/uz0mNPNxlE https://t.co/Vyj7gyyzvJ
— Singapore in India (@SGinIndia) May 18, 2021
The official Spokesperson of India’s Ministry of External Affairs Arindam Bagchi confirmed that the Singapore government called in Indian High Commissioner to convey strong objection to Delhi CM’s tweet on “Singapore variant”.
Singapore Government called in our High Commissioner today to convey strong objection to Delhi CM's tweet on "Singapore variant". High Commissioner clarified that Delhi CM had no competence to pronounce on Covid variants or civil aviation policy.
— Arindam Bagchi (@MEAIndia) May 19, 2021
The claims about a “Singapore variant” began circulating online, prompting leaders to order Facebook, Twitter and a local technology-focused portal to post the warnings.
You may have seen allegations that a new, previously unknown COVID-19 variant risks spreading to India from Singapore. This is false. There is no “Singapore” variant. For the correct facts, click here: https://t.co/xCBynVJ24Q
— Correction Notice (Singapore) (@POFMA_Notice) May 19, 2021
Facebook confirmed it had received the request and was legally compelled to comply. Twitter did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Facebook users in Singapore received a warning notice and were directed to a government-run site aimed at debunking false information.
“There is no new ‘Singapore’ variant of Covid-19,” it said. “The strain that is prevalent in many of the Covid-19 cases detected in Singapore… originated from India.”
India is suffering one of the world’s worst Covid-19 outbreaks while Singapore has largely kept the disease in check, although it has seen a slight increase in locally transmitted infections recently.
Singapore's Health Ministry said that Indian media: NDTV, Hindustan Times and Delhi CM Kejriwal is spreading fake news about new Covid variant in Singapore. pic.twitter.com/vUnz9UFs2s
— Anshul Saxena (@AskAnshul) May 19, 2021