Bhopal: Two people died in Madhya Pradesh after getting infected with the Delta Plus variant of Coronavirus, reported NDTV. Further, two more cases of Delta Plus strain have come to light, taking the total number of infections from this variant in the state to seven. Only 5 cases of the Delta Plus variant were reported from Madhya Pradesh earlier.
According to the NDTV report, three patients have been cured or are under home isolation without any further complication. They had received single or double vaccine doses prior to the infection.
Two others who had not received the vaccine have also recovered.
The remaining two succumbed to the infection from this infectious strain.
The seven cases of the Delta Plus variant in Madhya Pradesh have been reported from Bhopal, Ujjain, Raisen, and Ashok Nagar districts.
The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW) on Tuesday also informed that the Delta Plus variant of Covid-19 was found in Maharashtra’s Ratnagiri and Jalgaon; Kerala’s Palakkad and Pathanamthitta; and Madhya Pradesh’s Bhopal and Shivpur.
The genome sequenced samples received from Maharashtra, Kerala, and Madhya Pradesh as well as other states confirmed the presence of Delta Plus variant, a mutation of the Delta strain or B.1.617.2 variant first detected in India.
Soon after the findings, the Ministry alerted the three states to take precautionary measures and shared that Delta Plus has characteristics like increased transmissibility, stronger binding to receptors of lung cells, potential reduction in monoclonal antibody response.
The new Delta plus variant has been formed due to a mutation in the Delta or B.1.617.2 variant, first identified in India and one of the drivers of the deadly second wave. Though there is no indication yet of the severity of the disease due to the new variant, Delta plus is resistant to the monoclonal antibody cocktail treatment for COVID-19 recently authorised in India.