Maharashtra reports one more case of Delta Plus variant, total number of cases rise to 66
Premium- The maximum number of Delta plus patients - 13 - hailed from Jalgaon in north Maharashtra followed by Ratnagiri at 12 and Mumbai 11
Maharashtra's Health Department on Friday reported another case of Delta Plus variant in the state, taking the total number of such cases to 66.
The State Health Department said that,"Total cases of the Delta Plus variant in Maharashtra have risen to 66 after a case was reported in Thane yesterday. A total of five deaths due to the Delta Plus variant have been reported - two from Ratnagiri and one each from Mumbai, Beed and Raigad."
The maximum number of Delta plus patients - 13 - hailed from Jalgaon in north Maharashtra followed by Ratnagiri at 12 and Mumbai 11, it said. Six patients each were from Thane and Pune districts, three each from Palghar and district, two each from Nanded and Gondia, one each from Chandrapur, Akola, Sindhudurg, Sangli, Nandurbar, Aurangabad, Kolhapur and Beed, according to the department.
According to the statement, among the total patients 34 are females. Among the 66 patients, 10 had taken both doses of vaccines. Eight others had taken the first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine. Two of these 18 people had taken Covaxin and 16 Covishield, the statement said. Of the total patients, 61 have already recovered and 31 of them showed mild or no symptoms of the infection, it said.
The variant, considered highly infectious, was detected during genome sequencing of swab samples sent from different parts of the state. A 63-year-old fully vaccinated woman from Mumbai succumbed to the infection in the last week of July, the first death due to the Delta Plus variant in the city, a civic official said.
Genomic sequencing of coronaviruses is being carried out on a regular basis as an integral part of corona prevention and control measures. Genetic sequencing is a very important component of laboratory surveys. This genetic sequencing is done in two ways including Sentinel Survey.
Under Sentinel Survey, five laboratories and five hospitals in the state have been selected as Sentinel Centers. Each Sentinel Center sends 15 laboratory samples every fortnight to the National Institute of Virology and the National Institute of Cell Science, Pune for genetic sequencing.
The Government of Maharashtra has entered into an agreement with the Institute of Genomics and Integrated Biology, a laboratory under the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, to expedite the genetic sequencing survey.
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