The coronavirus variant first found in India, or the Delta variant is behind the second surge of Covid-19 in the country, a government study has found.
The Delta variant or the B.1.617.2 strain- is “more infectious” than the alpha variant first detected in Kent, UK, says the study by the Indian SARS COV2 Genomic Consortia and the National Centre for Disease Control. The Delta variant, In fact, is 50 per cent more contagious than the Alpha strain, the study says.
More than 12,200 Variants of Concern in the country, as revealed by genomic sequencing, says the study is still ongoing. But their presence is minuscule compared to the Delta variant, which replaced all other variants in the second wave.
The Delta variant is present in all states but has infected most in Delhi, Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Odisha, and Telangana, which were the worst hit in the second surge.
The role of the Delta variant in breakthrough infections or Covid infections after vaccination has also been found to be big. There are no such cases of infection after vaccination when it comes to the Alpha variant. But the study says the role of the Delta variant in more deaths or severity of cases is not proved.
The genome sequencing of 29, 000 samples have been done in India, the study says. The B.1.617 has been found in 8,900 samples. More than 1,000 of those samples were tested for the Delta variant.
Ahmedabad Plane Crash