Covid-19:Delta plus a ' variant of concern' labels Health Ministry
Highly transmissible Delta Variant of Covid-19 which was earlier found in India, has now mutated further to the 'Delta Plus' or 'AY.1' variant. Meanwhile, some of the states are witnessing new cases of Delta plus. Whereas the Ministry of Health and Family welfare on Tuesday labelled it as a "variant of concern".
Maharashtra, Kerala and Madhya Pradesh have been alerted by the Union Ministry and have been advised regarding the Delta Plus variant Covid-19 cases found in some districts of these states. whereas this variant is found in genome sequenced samples from Ratnagiri and Jalgaon districts of Maharashtra, Palakkad and Pathanamthitta districts of Kerala, Shivpuri and Bhopal districts of Madhya Pradesh.
According to INSACOG it has informed about the Delta plus Variant is currently a variant for concern and has the following characteristics:
1.Increased transmissibility
2.stronger binding to receptors of lung cells.
3.Potential reduction in monoclonal antibody response.
Whereas the United Kingdom, Portugal, Switzerland, Japan, Poland, Nepal, China and Russia are the other countries where delta plus variants have been detected. Meanwhile, the WHO has labelled Alpha( found in the United Kingdom), Beta (first found in South Africa), Gamma (first found in Brazil) and Delta (First found in India) as variants of concern.
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