New Delhi: Fifty-one cases of Delta Plus variant of the coronavirus have been detected across 12 states in the country, with Maharashtra reporting the highest number of 22, the Centre said on Friday, stressing that there are still very limited cases of this mutation and it cannot be inferred that it is showing an upward trend.
These 51 cases were detected from over 45,000 samples sequenced so far in the country.
Sujeet Singh, Director of the National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), said 22 cases of Delta Plus variant have been found in Maharashtra, followed by nine in Tamil Nadu, seven in Madhya Pradesh, three in Kerala, two each in Punjab and Gujarat, and one case each in Andhra Pradesh, Odisha, Rajasthan, Jammu and Kashmir, Haryana and Karnataka.
“There is very limited number of cases of this mutation (Delta Plus). In India, there are very limited cases (of Delta Plus). There are nearly 50 cases that are found in 12 districts and this has happened in the last three months. It cannot be said that in any district, state it is showing an increasing trend. Till the time we don’t correlate this we will not say this is a rising trend because its mutations are the same as Delta variant,” Singh told a media briefing of the health ministry.
There was some variance in the figures in the slides presented at the briefing but officials confirmed later that the total cases of the Delta Plus variant detected so far stands at 51 across 12 states. So the transmission potential in the Delta variant can also be found in the Delta Plus variant, he added.
The NCDC is among the ten institutes involved in genome sequencing of the coronavirus in the country.
Singh said the Delta Plus variant signifies the Delta variant with an additional mutation – B.1.617.2.1. This specifically refers to acquisition of K417N genetic variant in the background of Variant of Concern (VoC) Delta (B.1.617.2). He said K417N is of public significance, as this mutation is also present in the Variant of Concern Beta (B.1.351).
He said the Delta Plus variant is denoted by a plus sign. “This does not mean…That severity of transmission is more or lead to more severe disease. If scientific evidence does (suggest) that then we will definitely let you know,” he said. Singh added that since the Delta variant is already a VoC, its sub-lineage can also be called a VoC.
Talking about Delta Plus variant, Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) Director General Balaram Bhargava said it is present now in 12 countries, and in India, it has been found in 12 states, but they are very localised.
8 states asked to take up containment measures
New Delhi: The Union Health Ministry on Friday urged eight states and Union territories to take up immediate containment measures including preventing crowds, conducting widespread testing as well as increasing vaccine coverage on a priority basis in districts where the Delta Plus variant of coronavirus has been detected.
The measures were suggested by Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan in a letter to Tamil Nadu, Rajasthan, Karnataka, Punjab, Andhra Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Gujarat and Haryana.
He also urged them to ensure that adequate samples of people who test positive for COVID-19 are promptly sent to the designated laboratories of Indian SARS-CoV-2 Genomic Consortia (INSACOG) so that clinical epidemiological correlations can be established.
Bhushan said the Delta Plus variant of SARS-CoV-2 has been detected in Tirupati district in Andhra Pradesh, Surat in Gujarat, Faridabad in Haryana, Katra in Jammu and Kashmir, Bikaner in Rajasthan, Patiala and Ludhiana in Punjab, Mysuru in Karnataka, Chennai, Madurai and Kanchipuram in Tamil Nadu.