New Delhi: A new "double mutant variant" of SARS-CoV-2 has been detected in Delhi, Maharashtra and some other places in addition to the three "variants of concern" — first noticed in the UK, South Africa and Brazil — that have been found in at least 18 states and Union Territories, the Union Health ministry said on Wednesday.
"Though variants of concern (VOCs) and a new double mutant variant have been found in India, these have not been detected in numbers sufficient to either establish a direct relationship or explain the rapid increase in cases in some states," the ministry said.
Out of 10,787, the British variant has been reported in 736 samples in India. The South African strain of Coronavirus has been detected in 34 people in the country and the Brazil variant has been seen in one sample, the government said.
The samples were subjected to genome sequencing — a testing process to understand the complete genetics of an organism — by a government consortium of ten national laboratories.
Genome tests were done on samples from arriving international travellers, contacts of those positive for the new strains and community samples from most of the states where the 10 national labs are there.
In another related development, the Health ministry said that about 88 per cent of all Covid-19 deaths in the country are in the age group of 45 years and above and that's why vaccination for this age group has been opened from April 1 as there is a need to protect the most vulnerable section.
Addressing a press conference, Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan said: "The case fatality rate in this age group is 2.85 per cent."
Speaking about the new variants, National Centre for Disease Control Director S K Singh said: "771 variants of concern (VOCs) have been detected in 18 states and Union Territories, which include 736 samples positive for viruses of the UK (B.1.1.7) lineage.
"Till now, no linkage has been established to say that the surge being witnessed in some states is directly because of only mutations. There are various reasons behind a surge," he said.
"States having a larger pool of susceptible population are prone to witness rise in cases. Whenever the susceptible population will lower their guard and not follow Covid-19-appropriate behaviour, they will get the infection, be it the normal virus or the mutants, he said.
Maharashtra, Punjab, Karnataka, Chhattisgarh and Gujarat are reporting a surge in daily COVID-19 cases and the five states together account for 77.44 per cent of the new infections, the Union Health ministry said on Wednesday.
A total 47,262 new cases were registered in a span of 24 hours. Six states cumulatively account for 81.65 per cent of the new cases. Maharashtra has reported the highest daily new cases at 28,699. It is followed by Punjab with 2,254 and Karnataka with 2,010 cases.
India recorded 47,262 fresh Coronavirus cases in a day, the highest single-day rise so far this year, taking the nationwide tally to 1,17,34,058, the ministry said on Wednesday.
The country's total active caseload has reached 3,68,457 on Wednesday, accounting for 3.14 per cent of the total infections. A net rise of 23,080 in active cases was recorded in a span of 24 hours.
The Gujarat government has made it mandatory for people coming from neighbouring Maharashtra to carry a negative RT-PCR test report not older than 72 hours. This decision has been taken in view of a sharp rise in COVID-19 cases in Maharashtra, it said.
Meanwhile, a high-level government panel has concluded there is no increased risk of blood clotting so far linked to Covishield and Covaxin, the vaccines that India's drug regulator DCGI (Drugs Controller General of India) cleared earlier this year. The assurance comes after several European nations, a few days ago, temporarily paused the rollout of AstraZeneca vaccine over blood clot fears.