Delta “descendants” of the SARS-CoV-2 virus have become the source of close to 90% of Covid-19 cases in Mumbai, results of BMC’s fifth genomic sequencing have shown.
The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation on Thursday released the report of its fifth genomic sequencing that has found the Delta variant in 11% of the 221 Covid patients (sample), Delta Plus 89% or A.Y.x sublineages and Omicron in less than 1% (two cases), The Times of India reported.
The current sequencing exercise was carried out at BMC’s genetic laboratory in Kasturba Hospital. The Delta was most dominant, accounting for 70-80% of samples, since August, “but now Delta derivatives appear to be more in circulation in Mumbai,” the BMC report said.
“The clinical symptoms of positive patients bear testimony to the fact that Delta is either getting weaker or the population has developed immunity against it,” BMC additional commissioner Suresh Kakani told the TOI.
“The proportion of Delta derivatives have been increasing steadily. We can state that the second wave has declined and only the unvaccinated are getting hospitalised,’’ Dr Shashank Joshi, a member of Maharashtra’s Covid-19 task force, was quoted by the report.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) has declared both the Delta and Omicron as the ‘variants of concern.’ However, it’s not clear that one is more severe and dangerous than the other.
India witnessed a tragic loss of life, during the second wave of COVID-19 pandemic. While many lost their lives, others continue to bear the ill-effects of the deadly infection. The Delta variant was said to have driven the second wave, it still remains a predominant strain and continues to infect many. In wake of the new COVID variant, Omicron, health experts have noticed a sudden rise in the number of COVID-19 cases, which could possibly become the driving source of the third wave. The third COVID wave could be expected between January and February 2022. However, experts believe the implications would be mild.
Though there is no surety how severe the new variant is, scientists and doctors suggest that it could be highly transmissible. The outcome of the genome sequencing has revealed that the Omicron variant is highly mutated as compared to the Delta variant. Omicron has over 30 mutations in the spike protein as compared to Delta, which has 18 mutations. Due to this, the new COVID variant is immune to the vaccine-induced antibodies, which will lead to more breakthrough infections.
Read all the Latest India News here
Comments
0 comment