The Delta Plus variant of Covid-19, which is the sub-lineage of the highly transmissible Delta variant that was a major contributor to the second wave of infections that peaked in April-May, has been detected in 48 samples in 10 states from the 45,000 samples sequenced so far in the country, according to the Union Health Ministry data. Most cases of this variant have been reported in Maharashtra with 20 cases, followed by Tamil Nadu (9), and Madhya Pradesh (8), Kerala (3) and two each from Punjab and Gujarat. A total of four deaths have been reported in India due to this new variant. Tamil Nadu Saturday registered its first death due to the Delta Plus variant with a person from Madurai succumbing to it, according to the state health department. On Friday, Maharashtra recorded its first death from the Delta Plus variant with the death of an 80-year-old woman in the Ratnagiri district. Madhya Pradesh has reported two such deaths so far. Dr Sujeet Kumar Singh, Director, National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), said, "Of the 48 cases of Delta plus in 10 states, Maharashtra had 20, followed by Tamil Nadu (9), and Madhya Pradesh (7)." He, however, clarified that there was no evidence currently to suggest that the Delta Plus variant was significantly more dangerous than Delta. On Tuesday, the Health Ministry categorised the Delta Plus variant or B.1.617.2.1 of the coronavirus as a Variant of Concern (VOC) and directed states to take up immediate containment measures in clusters where it had been detected. There are worries Delta Plus would trigger another wave of infections on India after it emerged from the world’s worst surge in cases only recently. The categorisation came after INSACOG, a consortium of 28 laboratories of the Health Ministry that is involved in genome sequencing, informed the Centre on Tuesday that the Delta Plus variant has three worrying characteristics: increased transmissibility; stronger binding in receptors of lung cells; and potential reduction in monoclonal antibody response. These are the states in India with Delta Plus variant cases so far: Tamil Nadu reports first Delta plus variant death Tamil Nadu, which registered its first death today, with a person from Madurai succumbing to it, has reported nine such cases. Health Minister Ma Subramanian said, “There are 14 centres in India to identify Delta Plus variant and all of them are under the central government. They are being conducted as per the ICMR guidelines. We require certain permissions to conduct those tests in our state. We have started taking initiatives to acquire those permissions, we are planning to set up a testing centre in Chennai. This is done to avoid the delay in getting the results, it will cost about two crore rupees. We have identified a couple of places, in another 20-25 days we will be able to set up the centre in Chennai." Maharashtra reports 20 Covid cases with Delta Plus variant, one death Maharashtra, with 20 cases of Delta Plus variant, reported its first death on Friday. An 80-year-old woman died in Ratnagiri district on June 13, officials in Ratnagiri said they received an official communication on June 20 that she was infected with the Delta Plus variant. The village where she lived, Ozarkhol in Sangameshwar taluka, was declared a containment zone earlier this week, over 20 days after she had tested positive. Contact tracing only began after it came to be known that she suffered from the Delta plus variant. “As soon as we were informed that she was infected with the Delta Plus variant, we began to take containment measures,” a district official said. In a statement, the state government said that the Delta Plus variant has become a variant of concern (VOC). Hence all administrative units, will be placed under a minimum of level 3 restrictions, irrespective of weekly positivity rate and oxygen bed occupancy, it added. Levels of restrictions for safe Maharashtra pic.twitter.com/FOAKTSrI9A — CMO Maharashtra (@CMOMaharashtra) June 25, 2021 2 Delta plus cases in Punjab, 1 in Haryana; Centre for containment The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoH & FW) on Friday said that the Delta Plus variant has been found in two Covid samples from Punjab and one from Haryana, as per the genome sequencing results from the Indian SARS-CoV2-Genomics Consortium (INSACOG). The Union ministry has directed both states to start immediate containment measures including “preventing crowds” and “intermingling of people”. Gujarat had two Delta Plus cases, both recovered The Gujarat government Friday said there were no new coronavirus cases of Delta Plus variant in the state and the two patients who were found infected with the variant in April had recovered. Speaking to reporters in Gandhinagar, Additional Chief Secretary, Health, Manoj Aggarwal said, “The Delta Plus variant was found in two persons in April. One of the patients was from Surat, while the other one was from Vadodara and both eventually recovered from the infection.” There were no new cases of Delta Plus variant at present, the official said. However, Aggarwal said the state administration has been put on alert to tackle the situation and testing is also being done to detect this variant. Madhya Pradesh reports eight Delta Plus variant cases, two deaths Madhya Pradesh on Friday reported that two more Covid-19 patients had been infected with the Delta Plus variant of the virus, taking the total number of people infected with the variant to eight in the state, of whom two died. One of the cases detected Friday was of a 30-year-old man from Bhopal. He told The Indian Express, “I just had mild fever. Since all of my family including my parents, wife and two children had developed symptoms and recovered in home isolation, I immediately got myself tested and was subsequently admitted. After being discharged from hospital, I remained in home quarantine for 10 days. I only found out today that I had tested positive for the Delta Plus variant.” The man had not been administered a Covid-19 vaccine. Three cases of Delta plus variant found in samples in two Kerala districts At least three cases of SARS-CoV-2 Delta Plus variant have been found in samples collected from two Kerala districts- Palakkad and Pathanamthitta, officials said here on Monday. Pathanamthitta district collector Dr Narasimhugari T L Reddy said a four-year-old boy from Kadapra panchayat in the district was found infected with the new Delta-plus variant. Mysuru reports first case of Delta Plus variant of Covid-19 in Karnataka Mysuru has reported the first case of Delta Plus variant of Covid-19 in Karnataka, and the infected person is asymptomatic and none of his contacts have contracted the virus, Health Minister K Sudhakar said on Wednesday. “In Mysuru, one patient is infected with Delta Plus variant, whom we have isolated but he is asymptomatic and none of his primary and secondary contacts have it. That is a good sign,” Sudhakar told reporters. What is Delta plus variant? Like Delta, the Delta Plus variant has mutation in the spike protein region of the RNA virus, which potentially makes it more transmissible. The variant, called “Delta Plus” in India, was first reported in a Public Health England bulletin on June 11. It has acquired the spike protein mutation called K417N which is also found in the Beta variant first identified in South Africa. ICMR to come up with vaccine effectiveness against Delta Plus variant soon ICMR chief Dr Balram Bhargava announced that ICMR would, in about a week, come out with results of the effectiveness trial of vaccines against the Delta Plus variant. “Delta Plus is present in 12 countries; 48 cases have been detected in India, however they have been very localised. This virus has been isolated and is being cultured. Laboratory tests to check vaccine effect are ongoing and we should have these results in seven to 10 days’ time,” he added. Delta, the 'most transmissible' Covid-19 variant identified so far: WHO Meanwhile, on the Delta variant of Covid-19, identified in at least 85 countries, the WHO Saturday said it is the “most transmissible” of the variants identified so far and is spreading rapidly among unvaccinated populations. “I know that globally there is currently a lot of concern about the Delta variant, and the WHO is concerned about it too. Delta is the most transmissible of the variants identified so far, has been identified in at least 85 countries, and is spreading rapidly among unvaccinated populations,” WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said.
