J&K reports 444 fresh cases, 4 fatalities
STATE TIMES NEWS
JAMMU: The first case of the “Delta Plus variant” in Jammu and Kashmir has been confirmed from Katra town in the Jammu division, official sources said.
An official said that the sample collected at Katra and sent for genome sequencing to National Central for Disease Control (NCDC) returned positive for the Delta Plus variant.
Principal GMC Jammu, Principal GMC Jammu, Dr Shashi Sudan Sharma said that one sample from Katra has been confirmed to be Delta Plus variant. However, she said the sample has not gone from GMC.
The development came even as the second wave of the pandemic is waning in JK and restrictions imposed to prevent the spread of the infection are being eased.
India reports around 40 cases of Delta plus variant
New Delhi: Around 40 cases of the Delta plus variant, classified as a variant of concern (VOC), have been detected sporadically in Maharashtra, Kerala and Madhya Pradesh, the Union Health Ministry said on Wednesday.
Delta variant as well as all Delta sub-lineages including Delta plus are classified as VOC, it said.
“As of now among the samples sequenced (45000+) in India, Delta plus variant — AY.1 –has been observed sporadically in Maharashtra, Kerala and Madhya Pradesh, with around 40 cases identified so far and no significant increase in prevalence,” the ministry said in its statement.
These three states have been advised to strengthen surveillance and take appropriate public health measures. After the report of AY.1 by the Public Health England (PHE) on June 11, retrospective analysis of samples revealed the first occurrence of this lineage from a sample collected from Maharashtra. The sample was collected on April 5.
As of June 18, 205 sequences of AY.1 lineage was detected worldwide, with the USA and the UK having over half of the known cases, the statement said.
INSACOG had recently identified a viral variant (delta, B.1.617.2). This viral variant has also been seen in nine other countries of the world.
INSACOG is an Indian consortium of 28 labs, established by the Government of India to carry out genome sequencing of the virus causing the COVID-19 pandemic.
The World Health Organisation has introduced a classification as VOC (variant of concern) and VOI (variant of interest), with the evolution of several variants around the globe.
Delta variant as well as all Delta sub-lineages including Delta Plus are classified as VOC, the statement said.
The Indian SARS-CoV-2 Genomic Consortia (INSACOG)reported the evolution of Delta plus variant (B.1.617.2) + K417N lineage of SARS-CoV2 called as B.1.617.2.1/ AY.1.
The Delta plus variant B.1.617.2.1/ (AY.1) is characterized by the K417N mutation in spike protein, the statement said.
The spike protein aids the virus to gain receptor-mediated entry into human cells. K417N corresponds to the change of amino acid lysine (K) to asparagine (N) at the 417th position of spike protein. There are other Delta plus variants with other mutations.
The AY.1 is the most well-known, but these are not identical. A second clade found in sequences uploaded to GISAID from the USA, is now designated AY.2, but is not seen in India yet, the statement said.
“All Delta sub-lineages are treated as a variant of concern VOC, although properties of AY.1 are still being investigated. Currently, the variant frequency of AY.1 is low in India. Cases with AY.1 have been mostly reported from nine countries of Europe, Asia and America,” the ministry statement stated.
The SARS-CoV-2 virus causing COVID-19 disease is mutating continuously with increase in the number of infections both across the world and in India.
Mutations help the virus to become either more transmissible or more virulent or both. With time these mutations known as Variants of Interest (VOI) increase in frequency in the selected population and are considered then as VOC.
So far, around 40 cases of the Delta plus variant, classified as a variant of concern (VOC), have been detected in India.
According to some reports, the highly infectious Delta variant (B.1.617.2) of COVID that was first found in India is feared to have mutated into the Delta Plus variant.
Meanwhile, Jammu and Kashmir on Wednesday reported 444 new positive cases of novel Corona, 138 from Jammu division and 306 from Kashmir division, thus taking the total number cases to 313028 in the Union Territory.
Also, four Covid deaths have been reported, two each from the Jammu Division and the Valley.
Moreover, 839 more COVID-19 patients have recovered and discharged from various hospitals including 250 from Jammu Division and 589 from Kashmir Division.
Officials said one new confirmed case of mucormycosis has been reported during the past 24 hours, bringing the cumulative number of confirmed cases to 26 in the UT.
Besides this, 80.18 percent of population above the age of 45 years has been vaccinated across the Jammu and Kashmir.
According to the daily Media Bulletin, out of 313028 positive cases, 6782 are Active Positive, 301973 have recovered and 4273 have died; 2079 in Jammu division and 2194 in Kashmir division.
The Bulletin said that out of 9629643 test results available, 9316615 samples have been tested as negative till 23rd June, 2021.
Till date 2345375 persons have been enlisted for observation which included 29138 persons in home quarantine including facilities operated by government, 6782 in isolation and 203162 in home surveillance. Besides, 2102020 persons have completed their surveillance period.