Singapore battled with Covid and was successful in curbing the spread of the novel coronavirus, however recently the country announced a new strain of the covid virus. By nature, viruses and pathogens tend to mutate and seldom change their infectivity patterns and this new variant is worrying people all around. 

What is the new Singapore Covid Strain: 

As per reports, the new mutant of coronavirus, the B.1.167 Covid variant, is affecting younger children in particular. Though, there is no count on how many children have been affected so far by the new variant in Singapore. 

The Singapore government is planning to vaccinate all children under the age of 16 due to the fear of this new strain. Furthermore, the government has issued orders to shut all the schools.

How dangerous is it?

The B.1.617.2 variant contains the cross of two mutations-E484Q and L452R. It is declared as a concern by the WHO and is said to have spread over 40 countries. Whereas, there is no evidence that it is actually much more deadly or causes severe infections than Covid. 

There has been a gradual rise in the number of children who have caught the virus during the second wave of the coronavirus. Many of these cases have been traced to the B.1.617.2 variant.

With this variant, officials worry about the third wave being risky for children because they have outdoor exposure, weak immune systems, and most importantly the unavailability of vaccines for kids.