PremiumAmid the sudden spurt in novel coronavirus cases in Maharashtra, which subsequently led to the imposition of lockdowns and stringent restrictions in several districts of the state, the state government said that no new strains of the virus were found in the UK, South Africa and Brazil have not been detected in Amravati, Yavatmal and Satara districts, where cases have spiked recently.
In view of increase in cases in Western Maharashtra's Pune, Sarata districts and Amravati and Yavatmal in Vidarbha region, genome sequencing of coronavirus samples from these areas was carried out, the health department said.
Four samples each from Satara, Yavatmal and Amravati were tested at B J Medical College laboratory in Pune. No mutation similar to that found in new strains in the UK, South Africa or Brazil was observed, it said in a statement.
Similarly, no mutation in genome was found in 12 samples form Pune district, it said.
However, some more samples from Amravati and Yavatmal have been sent for genome testing to the Pune-based National Institute of Virology and National Centre for Cell Science, it said.
On Thursday, an official had said that researchers had found two new mutations in coronavirus samples from Amravati and Yavatmal districts, but no foreign strain of virus was found.
These new mutations were characterized by the virus' ability to escape neutralizing antibodies in the host person's body, said Dr Rajesh Karyekarte, head of the Department of Microbiology at the state-run B J Medical College in Pune.
Dr Subhash Salunke, technical adviser to the Maharashtra government on the COVID-19 outbreak, said a virus mutation found in Amaravati seemed to be more infectious.
Meanwhile, Maharashtra on Friday saw a huge jump in its daily coronavirus cases with a total of 6,112 new COVID-19 cases, highest since the past three months. There were 2,159 discharges, and 44 deaths in the last 24 hours, as per the State Health Department. The state's caseload has reached 20,87,632, while the active cases stand at 44,765. The death toll is at 51,713 and the total number of patients recovered from the disease is 19,89,963.
Along with that, capital city Mumbai also reported 823 coronavirus cases, the city's highest single-day spike in infections since December, said the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC).
The tally of coronavirus cases in the country's financial capital thus rose to 3,17,310, while the death toll reached 11,435 with five new fatalities.
With inputs from PTI
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