New Covid variant in India

The new Delta AY.4.2 variant of coronavirus, which is spreading rapidly in some foreign countries, has been detected in India.

The number has increased to 7 in India’s Karnataka state, with three more people found to be infected with in the city.

On 27th October, several states  had reported cases of the new strain- Andhra Pradesh reported 7 cases, Kerala 4, Karnataka 2, Telangana 2, Jammu & Kashmir and Maharashtra 1 case each, taking the tally to 17.

The Health and Family Welfare Services in Karnataka issued an official memo warning the public against the AY.4.2 strain.

The AY.4.2 was first detected in July and is found to have caused one in ten Covid 19 cases in the UK.  It has also been observed in a few European nations like Denmark, Germany and Ireland.

State Health and Family Welfare Commissioner D Randeep told reporters, “There are seven cases (of AY.4.2) in the state – three in Bengaluru and four in different parts of the state.”

No deaths have been reported due to the new variant, but one or two people have been hospitalised, he added.

Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya said that a government panel of experts was looking into a Delta coronavirus sub-variant, AY.4.2.

Matthew Bashton and Darren Smith, from Northumbria University in Newcastle, said that 75 AY lineages of the coronavirus have been identified till now, each with different additional defining mutations in their genome.

The duo said one of these variants – the AY.4 – has been steadily growing in proportion in the UK over the last few months, accounting for 63 per cent of new cases in the last 28 days.

(Agencies)