Delta Plus Variant Is Less Contagious, Says Chief Of ILS Bhubaneswar

Bhubaneswar: Even as the detection of the Delta Plus mutant of Coronavirus in Odisha has triggered alarm, the Institute of Life Sciences (ILS), Bhubaneswar on Saturday said the new variant has less severity of transmission as compared to the Delta variant that has wreaked havoc across the country.

ILS Director Ajay Parida told the media that the institute in Bhubaneswar conducted a genome sequencing of around 1,100 samples from all the districts in Odisha.

Of these, only one Delta Plus mutation has been found since April, indicating that that the new strain has not spread as fast as predicted, Parida said.

“The genome sequencing has found that the Delta Plus variant is of single mutation and has less severity of transmission. If this new variant been highly contagious, more cases would have been detected. The new strain was detected in April. Since then, there has been no further trace of the strain. From this, it can be said that there is no further spread of this variant,” he explained.

Parida informed that a patient hailing from Deogarh district had tested positive in April and his sample came to the ILS laboratory in the first week of May. “We carried out the genome sequencing in the second week of May and detected the Delta Plus variant. The patient has since recovered and not infected others,” he said.

Parida, however, cautioned that a study is underway to ascertain the possible impact of the new variant in coming days.

On the efficacy of COVID vaccines, the ILS director said about 10-12 people had contracted the virus after vaccination. However, barring one person admitted to a hospital, the others are in home isolation. This is a clear indication that the vaccine has the potential to bring down the severity to a considerable extent, he added.