‘B.1.617 has sub-lineages; nothing called S’pore variant’

The double mutant B.1.617 variant of SARS-CoV2 is further mutating and one of its sub-lineages, the B.1.617.2, reported in India, is more infectious than its parent and fast increasing its footprint, according to Rakesh Mishra, former Director of the Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology.

He also said there is nothing called the Singapore variant , a term that has led to a war of words between the Centre and the AAP government after Singapore objected to Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s tweet that a “new” coronavirus strain in the citystate is very dangerous for children.

Singapore’s health ministry had said the strain that is prevalent in many of the COVID-19 cases in recent weeks is the B.1.617.2 variant, which was first detected in India.

Amid criticism over Kejriwal’s Singapore COVID-19 variant remark, Delhi Health Minister Satyendar Jain on Wednesday claimed there was a “different strain” of coronavirus spreading in that country.

However, Mishra said B.1.617.2 has already been reported in India and is in majority of new cases in Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh.

Mishra is part of the INSACOG, a consortium of 10 institutes of the Centre, that is involved in the genome sequencing of coronavirus.

Explaining about the sub-lineage, Mishra said, B.1.617 was the mutant which was increasing in some part of the country like Maharashtra, West Bengal, Karnataka and now gradually it has led to three sub-lineages (B.1) 617.1, 617.2 and 617.3.

Among these three, B.1.617.2 is more infectious than B.1.617. That does not indicate a greater worry except the numbers are more and symptomatically. Otherwise, we have not seen any other difference.