Odisha Reports First COVID Delta Plus Case; 48 In India

Bhubaneswar/New Delhi: National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) Director Dr SK Singh on Friday informed that 48 cases of Delta Plus variant of coronavirus have been detected in India and one among them is from Odisha.

These cases from 11 districts have been detected from 45,000 samples sequenced. The one found in Odisha is reportedly from Deogarh district, sources said.

Singh further said that eight states, where we have found more than 50 per cent of the variant of concern (Delta variant), are important. They are Andhra Pradesh, Delhi, Haryana, Kerala, Maharashtra, Punjab, Telangana and West Bengal.

Notably, the variant’s tag was elevated from ‘Variant of Interest’ to ‘Variant of Concern’ recently.

While the Delta variant was blamed for the second wave, the supposedly more virulent Delta Plus is being feared ahead of a possible third wave. However, not much is known about the new mutant strain, its severity or its resistance to antibodies.

Former member of the Indian Sars-CoV-2 Genomic Consortia (INSACOG), Professor Shahid Jameel had told the media earlier this week that Delta plus variant not only has all the symptoms exhibited by the original Delta variant, but it also carries symptoms from its partner Beta variant (K417N mutation). Therefore, it may just be capable of dodging immunities, both from vaccines and earlier infections, he added.

Meanwhile, Maharastra saw an 80-year-old woman with co-morbidities succumbing to this variant of COVID. The state has reported 20 cases of the Delta plus variant so far.