20 Delta Plus cases found in Maha

MUMBAI: Twenty cases of the new Covid-19 variant, termed Delta Plus or AY.1, have been detected in positive swab samples collected from at least four districts of Maharashtra. The Delta Plus, which is a mutation of the highly transmissible Delta variant of Sars-cov-2 (B.1.617.2) and detected in the state during the second wave, is currently considered a “variant of interest” and is not yet a “variant of concern”.

In view of the rise in infections across the state in Marchapril, the state in April had signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research-institute of Genomics and Integrative Biology (CSIR-IGIB) to undertake genome sequencing of 100 positive swab samples per month from each district.

Genome sequencing is an exercise to study the changes in the structure of the virus over time. A combination of changes in the ribonucleic acid of the virus can give birth to a new variant. As per the MOU, 100 samples from each of the state’s 36 districts would be sent to the Pune-based National Centre for Cell Science and CSIR-IGIB, Faridabad for genome sequencing over four months. State health minister Rajesh Tope said they have received a genome-sequencing report from CSIR-IGIB, which will be discussed on Monday.