UK says B.1.617.2 a variant of concern

UK health officials on Friday labelled a coronavirus variant first found in India a “variant of concern” and said it appeared to spread at least as readily as the one they found last year, which went on to trigger new waves of Covid-19 and force several countries into lockdown. Data seen in India too suggested this may be true. As per the latest genome sequencing data shared with the global repository GISAID, B.1.617.1 and B.1.617.2 accounted for 58% of all samples submitted in the last 30 days. The B.1.617.2 is one of three lineages of the B.1.617 variant that is expanding its footprint in India, with experts fearing it may be behind the relentless surge in cases in India. Public Health England announced it has found B.1.617.2 to have spread in Britain in a way similar to the early days of B.1.1.7, the so-called UK variant.