APRIL FOOLISH
Sunday Mail|May 23, 2021
Indians rap FM’s Covid strain name
Gordon Blackstock
APRIL FOOLISH

Scottish Indians hit out at Nicola Sturgeon yesterday after she renamed a strain of Covid-19 over fears it would lead to prejudice.

They said the First Minister’s decision to start referring to the Indian variant of the killer bug as “April-02” was “silly”.

The Indian Council of Scotland accused Sturgeon of “playing to the galleries”.

Neil Lal, president of the group which represents Scotland’s 33,000 Indians, said: “I’ve not heard from one Indian who has voiced any concern over a Covid strain being called the Indian variant. Not one.

“We’ve certainly not been asked our views on it. We’ve had the Brazilian, South African, Kent and other variants. There’s been no indication any people from these areas have suffered after a strain was named after the region they were from.

“It just looks like gesture politics and empty ones at that. India has bigger problems on its plate than a variant name.

This story is from the May 23, 2021 edition of Sunday Mail.

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This story is from the May 23, 2021 edition of Sunday Mail.

Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.