BackGovt says Covid-19 Delta Plus variant now found in 11 states. List here
The Centre said nine cases of Delta Plus variant were found in Tamil Nadu, seven cases in Madhya Pradesh, three in Kerala, two each in Punjab and Gujarat, and one case each in Andhra Pradesh, Odisha, Rajasthan, Jammu and Karnataka
PremiumThe Central Government on Friday informed that 50 cases of Delta Plus variant of Covid-19 have been recorded across 11 states of India, adding that the maximum number of such cases were in Maharashtra.
Addressing a press conference today, Balram Bhargava, Director General of ICMR said that the 'delta plus' variant cases had also been reported from 12 other countries.
Maharashtra is on the list with 20 cases and Tamil Nadu with nine cases. Madhya Pradesh is next on the list with seven cases and Kerala with three cases, followed by Andhra Pradesh, Odisha, Rajasthan, Karnataka, have reported one case each.
Gujarat and Punjab are also on the list with two cases each, respectively. The Union Territory of Jammu has also reported one case.
The Centre maintained that 90% of the coronavirus cases in India are being driven by the B.1.617.2 (Delta) variant.
"Covid variants of concern have been found in 174 districts in 35 states/UTs with the highest number of cases seen in Maharashtra, Delhi, Punjab, Telangana, West Bengal and Gujarat," it said.
"The proportion of Covid-19 cases with variants of concern rose from 10.31% in May, 2021 to 51% on 20 June, 2021," it added.
Covishield, Covaxin effective against Delta variant
Covid-19 vaccines -- Covaxin and Covishield -- are effective against variants of coronavirus like the Alpha, Beta, Gamma and Delta, the government asserted. Any variant is categorised as 'variant of interest' or 'variant of concern' on the basis of its transmissibility and virulence, it added.
It also said that the second wave of coronavirus is not yet over in the country as 75 districts still have over 10% prevalence and 92 districts have 5-10% prevalence of Covid-19.
The Centre has said that the Delta variant of Covid-19 has been found in 80 countries, including India. The Health Secretary went on to add that the Delta Plus variant has been found in nine countries - USA, UK, Portugal, Switzerland, Japan, Poland, Nepal, China, Russia and India.
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