A total of 40 cases of Delta Plus variant of Covid-19 has been detected in the country, government sources said on Wednesday, adding that most of the infections were from Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Kerala and Tamil Nadu.
Sources said that the Delta Plus variant is still a “variant of interest”. However, according to the Union Health Ministry, INSACOG has informed that the Delta Plus Variant is currently a “Variant of Concern (VOC)”
and it has characteristics of increased transmissibility, stronger binding to receptors of lung cells and potential reduction in monoclonal antibody response.
Based on the recent findings of INSACOG, the Union Health Ministry has alerted and advised Maharashtra, Kerala and Madhya Pradesh regarding the Delta Plus variant of Covid-19.
INSACOG, a consortium of 28 laboratories of the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Department of Biotechnology, Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) and Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), has informed that the Delta Plus Variant, currently a Variant of Concern (VOC), has the following characteristics: Increased transmissibility; Stronger binding to receptors of lung cells and Potential reduction in monoclonal antibody response.
Highlighting the concerns regarding Delta Plus, the Health Ministry wrote to the chief secretaries of Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh and Kerala and requested them to take up immediate containment measures as cases of the new variant were found in these three states.
Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan, in the letter, requested the chief secretaries to take up immediate containment measures in these districts and clusters including preventing crowds and intermingling of people, widespread testing, prompt tracing as well as vaccine coverage on a priority basis. Bhushan said it is intimated that Delta Plus variant has been found in Bhopal and Shivpuri districts of Madhya Pradesh, Ratnagiri and Jalgaon districts of Maharashtra, and Palakkad and Pathanamthitta districts of Kerala.
“The Public Health Response, in this case, while broadly remaining the same, has to become more focused and stringent. Thus, you are requested to take up immediate containment measures in these districts and clusters including preventing crowds and intermingling of people, widespread testing, prompt tracing as well as vaccine coverage on a priority basis,” read the letter.
“You are requested to ensure that adequate samples of positive persons are sent to the designated laboratories of INSACOG promptly so that the clinical epidemiological correlations can be made,” it said.
These states have been advised for strengthening surveillance and appropriate public health measures. “As of now among the samples sequenced (45,000+) in India, this variant has been observed sporadically in Maharashtra, Kerala and Madhya Pradesh, with around 40 cases identified so far and no significant increase in prevalence,” Union Health Ministry said in a statement.
Meanwhile, with 50,848 fresh infections and 68,817 recoveries in the last 24 hours, India’s Covid-19 active caseload declined to 6,43,194, the lowest in 82 days, the Health Ministry said on Wednesday. The country witnessed as many as 1,358 deaths due to Covid-19 in the last 24 hours.
With the new cases, the cumulative caseload has climbed to 3,00,28,709 including 6,43,194 active cases, 3,90,660 deaths and 2,89,94,855 recoveries.
The Covid-19 testing capacity has also substantially ramped up as 39.59 crore tests are conducted so far, out of which 19,01,056 tests were conducted yesterday. According to the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW), the daily positivity rate in the country stands at 2.67 per cent. The weekly positivity rate remained less than 5 per cent for the 16th consecutive day and currently stood at 3.12 per cent.
As daily recoveries continue to outnumber the daily new cases for the 41st consecutive day, the recovery rate improved to 96.56 per cent.
The Union Health Ministry informed that 54.24 lakh vaccine doses were administered in the last 24 hours. 29.46 crore vaccine doses have been administered so far under the vaccination drive. WITH ANI INPUTS