A total of 20 cases of the new Sars-CoV-2 variant AY.1, also dubbed the Delta-plus, have been found in samples collected from at least four Indian districts - Sindhudurg, Ratnagiri, Palghar, and Jalgaon, Report informs referring to the Hindustan Times.
More samples have been sent for genome sequencing to understand whether the new variant is dominant or scattered, state government officials said.
The Delta-plus, formed by mutation in the Delta (B.1.617.2) variant, is currently a “variant of interest” and hasn’t been classified as a “variant of concern” by the Union health ministry yet.
The B.1.617 coronavirus strain was detected in India on October 5, 2020, in Maharashtra, and it has recently been found in many countries. According to local doctors, this mutation could be one of the reasons for the second wave of coronavirus in India.