New Delhi: The Union Health Ministry on Wednesday said that a new ‘double mutant variant’ of COVID-19 has been detected in 18 states in the country. This is in addition to many other strains or variants of concern (VOCs) also found abroad.
“Since INSACOG initiated its work, 771 variants of concerns (VOCs) have been detected in a total of 10787 positive samples shared by States/UTs. These include 736 samples positive for viruses of the UK (B.1.1.7) lineage. 34 samples were found positive for viruses of the South African (B.1.351) lineage. 1 sample was found positive for viruses of the Brazilian (P.1) lineage,” the Health Ministry said in a statement.
“Though VOCs and a new double mutant variant have been found in India, these have not been detected in numbers sufficient to either establish a direct relationship or explain the rapid increase in cases in some states,” it added.
