Delta Variant’s Sub-Lineages AY.1, AY.2 Unlikely To Be More Transmissible: Expert Panel

New Delhi: Experts have warned that the coronavirus won’t vanish in a hurry as it will continue to mutate.

The Delta variant of Sars-Cov-2, which was first detected in India, has already been proved to be highly contagious and has spread in Europe, the US and several other countries.

But the good news is that sub-lineages of Delta variant are unlikely to be more transmissible than Delta itself.

The Indian Sars-CoV-2 Genomics Consortium (INSACOG) said in a recent bulletin that cases of Delta sub-lineages AY.1 and AY.2 are declining globally, with near-zero cases in the last week of June in the UK and the US, where they were most frequently detected.

“They also continue to be below 1% in available sequences from June in India. It is likely that neither AY.1 nor AY.2 is more transmissible than Delta,” INSACOG said.

Health authorities were concerned by the emergence of AY.1, also known as Delta Plus variant, because of lack of data on transmissibility and risks associated with it. Though there was no reason to panic, they had stressed on the need for further studies on Delta Plus variant.

The consortium of government panels involved in genome sequencing of coronavirus stated that there is no indication of a rising trend in four identified clusters — Ratnagiri and Jalgaon in Maharashtra, Bhopal in Madhya Pradesh and Chennai in Tamil Nadu.

INSACOG also said that AY.3 has been identified as a new Delta sub-lineage, which is primarily seen in the US with single reclassified cases in the UK and India. INSACOG will continue to monitor it.