48 Delta+ cases found, 2nd wave not yet over: Centre
The Union health ministry on Friday said 48 cases of Delta Plus variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus have been found in the country, spread across 10 states and one Union Territory, including MP, Maharashtra, Punjab, Gujarat, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Odisha, Rajasthan, Jammu and Karnataka. “Wherever you find a cluster, you have to contain it,” Dr Balram Bhargava, directorgeneral, ICMR said adding that the second wave of the pandemic is not yet over.
Giving a detailed presentation of the genome sequencing work, Dr Sujeet Kumar Singh of the National Centre for Disease Control said, “Forming a scientific opinion on a variant takes time. Genome sequencing takes 10-12 days. Then some more samples are sometimes sought from the state to find out whether the particular variant is linked to the spike in the cases.” Dr Singh said the plus in the name of Delta Plus does not denote more virulence.
“The plus is an addition of an existing variant. It does not mean that it is stronger than Delta. At least the name does not. If scientific evidence suggest so in future, we will inform.”
The Centre on Thursday wrote to the CMs of the three states and requested them to take up immediate containment measures against the Delta Plus variant outbreak.
Union health secretary Rajesh Bhushan, in the letter, requested the chief secretaries to take up immediate containment measures in districts that are reporting the cases of the latest mutation. Bhushan also asked them to prevent crowds and intermingling of people and asked them to conduct widespread testing, prompt tracing.
How Delta variant spread in India since Dec 2020
In his presentation, Dr Singh said the Delta variant, first reported in India, had a minimum presence in the country in December. In March 2021, the variant spread to 52 districts and in June there are 174 districts reporting the variant. But the trend is declining, Dr Singh said. At present, the Delta variant can be found in 174 districts in 35 states, the highest being reported from Maharashtra, Delhi, Punjab, Telangana, West Bengal and Gujarat. The distribution was not uniform. In some places, Delta variant cases were minimum at the beginning and then gradually Delta took over Alpha, Dr Singh said, adding that Delta is stronger than Alpha.
Why more study required to understand Delta Plus
The number of Delta Plus variant cases in the country as well as in the world is not enough for extensive study. For example, Dr Singh said, Delta Plus cases have been there in India sporadically for three months.
“This variant has the same mutations as Delta. Only one mutation K417N is different for which Delta variant is believed to be immune-escape and monoclonal antibody-resistant, but more studies are required.”