The detection of a new, more infectious mutation of the coronavirus, the Delta Plus variant, of which 40 cases have already been identified, begins to cause concern in India, which on Wednesday exceeded 30 million infections since the start of the pandemic.
Although according to experts there is still a lack of data to determine whether this mutation is more dangerous than existing ones, the announcement comes amid warnings about the need to prepare for an inevitable third wave of COVID-19.
New Delta Plus variant
The detection in India of a new variant of the coronavirus, known as Delta Plus and of which some 40 cases have been identified, worries in India due to its greater transmission capacity.
“The Delta Plus variant has been sporadically detected in Maharashtra, in the west, Kerala, in the south, and Madhya Pradesh, in the center, with some 40 cases detected so far,” the Indian Health Minister said Wednesday. Harsh Vardhan, on Twitter.
It is a mutation of the Delta variant identified for the first time in India (B.1.617.2), which is considered largely responsible for the spectacular increase in cases in the Asian country, indicated the Sequencing Consortium of the SARS-CoV-2 genome of India (INSACOG) in a statement.
The Indian government has classified the Delta Plus as a “concern variant” due to its higher transmission capacity.
The states that have detected their presence should take immediate measures to isolate the sources of infection and increase the number of coronavirus tests, as well as strengthen the vaccination campaign, the Executive said in a statement on Wednesday.
The virologist Jayaprakash Muliyil, president of the Scientific Advisory Committee of the National Institute of Epidemiology, told EFE that for the moment there is a lack of data to affirm that it is more dangerous than other variants.
“We have described it as a worrying variant because Delta has changed (…) but at the moment we have not observed anything harmful. A mutation may imply a higher infection or mortality rate, but there is no information available” on the Delta Plus Muliyil said.
The virologist stressed that it is difficult to assess the extent of these variants of the coronavirus in a country like India, whose ability to sequence the genome of coronavirus tests is limited although, according to Muliyil, it is increasingly prepared.
30 million infections
The concern about the new Delta Plus variant comes at the time that the Asian country on Wednesday surpassed the barrier of 30 million infections since the beginning of the pandemic, according to the latest data from the Indian Ministry of Health.
In the last 24 hours, there have been 50,848 new COVID-19 infections, as well as 1,358 deaths, which have pushed the total death toll to 390,660.
India is the second most affected country in the world in absolute terms by the coronavirus, only behind the United States, which has 33.5 million infections according to Johns Hopkins University.
These figures, however, represent a notable decrease compared to the peak registered in mid-May, with more than 400,000 daily infections, which caused an overload on its health system that left dramatic images of saturated hospitals and crematoriums.
A third wave of COVID-19 in India?
Although the coronavirus curve is in a clear decline in the country, in recent days numerous voices have highlighted the need to prepare for a third wave that experts say is inevitable.
“It is clear that there is a third wave on the way, and I would risk stating that there could be new waves after the third because the virus is continuously mutating and changing shape,” Rahul Gandhi, the leader of the opposition Congress Party, Nehru-Gandhi dynasty.
The opponent called “disastrous” the coronavirus management policy of the Indian Prime Minister, the Hindu nationalist Narendra Modi.
The Indian government was carried away by a sense of triumphalism due to the reduction in cases between November and February, following the first wave of the virus, Gandhi said.
In recent weeks, medical officials and even the judiciary have urged the Executive to take measures to avoid further shortages of beds and oxygen in the context of a third wave.
5.4 million doses administered
India administered 5.4 million vaccines on Wednesday, within the framework of a campaign that is seen by the authorities as the best defense against the coronavirus.
This figure is down from the record of 9 million doses administered in a single day, last Monday, although it is an improvement over the numbers in recent weeks.
The Asian nation had set a goal of administering a total of 600 million doses by August, although vaccine shortages have significantly delayed this ambitious program.
