“Keep your fear-mongering to yourself,” Kejriwal was told after he tweeted: “The new form of Covid-19 that has come to Singapore is being said to be extremely dangerous for children. In India, it may come as a third wave. My appeal to the Central government: 1. Air services with Singapore be cancelled with immediate effect 2. Priority on vaccine options should be worked out for children too.”

There have been several variants of Covid-19 after the original went out into the world from Wuhan in China at the beginning of 2020. The ‘Kent UK variant’ and the ‘South African variant’ followed by the ‘double mutant Indian-origin’ coronavirus. Add to that a possible ‘Singapore variant’ and it can be assumed that the novel coronavirus isn’t slated to go into extinction/oblivion anytime soon. “Prepare for new waves,” Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s principal scientific advisor KV Vijay Raghavan had warned.

What bothers experts is that the next coronavirus variant to hit India will target children. And, if Kejriwal is taken seriously, the so-called 'Singapore variant’ is specifically tasked to do just that. In effect the third “incoming” Covid wave fuelled by a foreign strain would be deadly for children. Kejriwal’s warning comes on the heels of reports that variant B.1.617.2, the ‘Indian variant’, forced authorities in Singapore to shutdown schools there.

The question then is, what if Kejriwal’s warning is proven right; what if there’s a ‘Singapore variant’ and what if it’s deadly for children; shouldn’t India therefore restrict or fully ban flights from Singapore, whether Singapore likes it or not? Forget how competent or otherwise Kejriwal is, whether he “speaks” for India or not, the fact remains that we aren’t exactly giving the second Covid wave a tough fight to be burdened with a third possibly deadlier one targeting children. Under the circumstances, how worried should Modi & Co., be?

Does India have the vaccines to protect Indians from a new COVID-19 strain which could find its way to India? What we know about the so-called ‘Singapore variant’ is that it’s highly contagious and that Singapore ordered the shutdown of schools after 38 cases of Covid-19 in children were detected there. However, there is no scientific proof that there’s indeed a ‘Singapore strain’ which is deadlier than the original ‘Wuhan virus.’

As for the ‘children’ and vaccinations, it’s not just Kejriwal who is talking of both. The world is talking of a third Covid wave hitting children and so are vaccine manufacturers. In fact, a third Covid wave infecting children and vaccines for children started simultaneously. The theory so far was that children were getting milder symptoms. Talk of a Covid-19 wave infecting children started gaining currency only after vaccinations of adults achieved a certain critical mass.

Claims of a child-specific coronavirus strain, originating from wherever, should be thoroughly researched and investigated. Panicking into baseless corners would lead to chaos. As it is, children are at a higher risk: They face greater outdoor exposure; they have under-developed immune systems, and there are no Covid vaccines for children. Only some countries have given emergency use permission to vaccines for children under age 16.

The Modi Government shouldn’t, therefore, take Kejriwal’s warning lightly, just because Singapore did not like to be singled out. True, Arvind Kejriwal is prone to slips of the tongue and this could be yet another manifestation of the Kejriwal variant of foot in the mouth disease. Singapore henceforth might not be a happy destination for Arvind Kejriwal, but that does not mean Kejriwal cannot speak for Delhi. He does not want a new strain of the coronavirus to turn Child-Killer in Delhi’s streets.

Singapore has told Kejriwal that “politicians should stick to facts.” Singapore also attached a link to an article in the ‘Nature’ magazine with the headline “Coronavirus variants are spreading in India – what scientists know so far” for Kejriwal's consumption. The fact remains that Singapore is getting to know Arvind Kejriwal only now, and India could have done without the negative publicity that Kejriwal triggered with his “irresponsible” intervention, but we’ll all have to wait with bated breath for the “3rd wave” to come to know whether Kejriwal is competent or not to make a stand for Delhi if not for India. (IPA Service)