Moscow. 22nd of June. INTERFAX.RU – A new variant of the COVID-19 strain, dubbed “delta plus”, has been found in three Indian states, the Hindustan Times reported on Tuesday.
For the first time, the appearance of the delta + strain (B.1.617.2.1) was recorded in the state of Maharashtra. At the moment, 21 cases of the disease have been identified there. In addition, three cases were reported in Kerala state in the south of the country and several more in Madhya Pradesh state in central India.
Experts in India suggested that the “delta plus”, due to mutations discovered for the first time in a variant of the virus from South Africa, could resist both the action of vaccines and acquired immunity. However, experts continue to study the samples and indicate that there is no evidence of a greater infectiousness of the new strain yet.
Indian authorities on June 16 recognized delta plus as a COVID-19 strain of particular interest, AP notes.
Meanwhile, the Maharashtra state administration has warned that the “delta plus” option could trigger a third wave of COVID-19 in the region if the population does not comply with security measures.
At the end of March, a new variant of the double mutation coronavirus, also known as B.1.617, was discovered in India. This variant is more contagious than the “regular” SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus, first identified in China's Wuhan province. Prior to this, it became known about the British and Brazilian variants of the coronavirus, which also differed in their increased infectivity compared to the Wuhan COVID-19.
