INDIA HAS IDENTIFIED a new Covid-19 ‘variant of concern’ after nearly two dozen cases were detected across three states.

The country’s health ministry says the so-called ‘Delta plus’ strain has increased transmissibility, causes more severe illness and potentially reduces the effectiveness of monoclonal antibody therapy as a treatment for the virus.

Viruses routinely mutate, with the vast majority of the changes being inconsequential. However, these mutations are labelled variants of concern if they meet a range of criteria, including making the virus more transmissible, causing more severe illness or making treatment, or vaccines, less effective.

India’s health authorities said the variant has the following characteristics:

• Increased transmissibility,
• Stronger binding to receptors of lung cells,
• Potential reduction in monoclonal antibody response.

There is currently no evidence that the variant reduces the effectiveness of Covid-19 vaccines. 

The variant was first found in India in April and has been detected in 22 samples from six districts across the states of Maharashtra, Kerala and Madhya Pradesh.

Sixteen of these samples were found in Maharashtra, one of the states that has been hardest hit by the coronavirus pandemic.

India’s health ministry has advised the three states to ramp up their public health response measures including preventing crowds and intermingling of people, immediate containment measures in the affected districts, widespread testing, prompt tracing and vaccine coverage on a priority basis. 

Yesterday, India reported 42,640 new coronavirus infections, its lowest number of new cases since March. A total of 1,167 new deaths were also recorded.

India has recorded the second most coronavirus cases in the world as well as the third highest death toll, according to the Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center.

It has reported more than 30 million cases and over 390,000 deaths since the pandemic started last year.