Bhubaneswar: The Delta variant of SARS-CoV-2 accounts for nearly 98 per cent of the samples sequenced in Odisha this month. The proportion of cases with Delta, the highly transmissible double mutant strain, has risen from 21 per cent in March to 98 per cent in July. It accounted for 90 per cent in June, 82 per cent in May, and 48 per cent in April.
In the last week of May, the variant was found in only around 40 per cent of samples sequenced during the period. But further analysis revealed the strain was prevalent in 552 samples that month while all other variants were found in only 116 samples, The New Indian Express (TNIE) reported.
Districts where variants are dominant
- The variants are distributed across 30 districts.
- The highest have been reported from Khurda, Cuttack, Sundargarh, Nuapada, Puri, Mayurbhanj, Balasore, and Jajpur districts.
- Only one case of Delta Plus in Deogarh in the first week of May.
Total samples sequenced in the state so far: 2,463
Delta variant (B.1.617.2) present in: 1,328 samples
Alpha variant (B.1.1.7) in 32 samples
Delta Plus variant (AY.1) in: one sample
“The Delta variant is now the dominant lineage and the vast majority of the new samples being sequenced are of Delta lineage, from all parts of the country. We have to remain prepared and states have to be careful while easing out of restrictions,” a researcher associated with the Indian SARS-CoV-2 Genomics Consortium (INSACOG) was quoted as saying by TNIE.
Meanwhile, a new ICMR study has found that most COVID-positive patients, who had received at least one vaccine dose before catching the infection, were infected by the Delta variant. The study shows that most vaccinated individuals were infected by the Delta variant in India.
However, the death rate among vaccinated individuals was found to be very low. The clinical characterisation was done on about 677 participants, India Today reported.
