48 Delta Plus Covid variant cases detected in India; Maharashtra records highest: Government

NEW DELHI: Forty-eight coronavirus cases of 'Delta Plus' variant have been detected from 45,000 samples sequenced so far in the country, with Maharashtra reporting the highest number of such cases at 20, the Centre said on Friday.

It said nine cases of Delta Plus variant were found in Tamil Nadu, seven cases in Madhya Pradesh, three in Kerala, two each in Punjab and Gujarat, and one case each in Andhra Pradesh, Odisha, Rajasthan, Jammu and Karnataka.

The Union government maintained that 90 per cent of the COVID-19 cases in India are being driven by the B.1.617.2 (Delta) variant. "Covid variants of concern have been found in 174 districts in 35 states/UTs with the highest number of cases seen in Maharashtra, Delhi, Punjab, Telangana, West Bengal and Gujarat," it said.

"The proportion of COVID-19 cases with variants of concern rose from 10.31 per cent in May, 2021 to 51 per cent on June 20, 2021," it added.

The government also asserted that both the COVID-19 vaccines--Covishield and Covaxin--work against SARS-CoV-2 variants like the Alpha, Beta, Gamma and Delta.

It added that the second wave of COVID-19 is not yet over in-country as 75 districts still have more than 10 per cent prevalence and 92 districts have 5-10 per cent prevalence of coronavirus.

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