SINGAPORE — Allegations circulating on WhatsApp that the Omicron XBB subvariant of the coronavirus causing Covid-19 is "five times more toxic", more deadly and harder to detect than the Delta variant are untrue, the Ministry of Health (MOH) said.

In a Facebook post on Wednesday (April 19), the ministry said that both international and domestic data have shown that the Omicron XBB subvariant is milder than the Delta variant, and does not have a higher mortality rate.

Covid-19 tests are able to detect infections, including the XBB strains.

“Of all the various strains in the local community now, there is no clear dominant strain,” it added.

“There is also no evidence showing that any one of them causes more severe illness.”

MOH said that Singapore is now in the midst of an infection wave, but to date, admissions into intensive care units remain stable and low.

Over the past month, there have been fewer than 10 Covid-19 patients receiving intensive care at any one time.

On April 14, Health Minister Ong Ye Kung said that although there has been an increase in the number of Covid-19 cases in Singapore, it is still a “small fraction” of the 20,000 or more daily cases that were reported during the peak of the pandemic.

Members of the public are advised by MOH to refer to “credible sources of information” and can visit the ministry’s website for the latest information on Covid-19.