Triple Mutation Coronavirus Variant Detected In India As Second COVID-19 Wave Batters The Country

New Delhi, April 21: India is witnessing the second wave of coronavirus. On the day when the country reported close to three lakh COVID-19 cases and over 2,000 deaths, reports of a new mutation of the deadly virus surfaced. Till the recent past, the double mutation of COVID-19 was found in India. As per reports, the triple mutation has now also been detected in several parts of the country.

As the name suggests, the triple mutation, also known as B.1.617, means three different COVID-19 strains merging to form a new variant. According to reports, B.1.617 is behind the surge in COVID-19 cases in India. The triple mutant has been reportedly found in states like Maharashtra, Delhi, West Bengal and Chhattisgarh. PM Narendra Modi Urges Youth and ‘Bal Mitron’ to Help in Abiding COVID-19 Appropriate Behavior and Save Nation from Lockdown.

“This is a more transmissible variant. It is making lots of people sick very quickly,” reported NDTV quoting Madhukar Pai, professor of epidemiology at McGill University, as saying.  Experts believe that triple mutations are behind COVID-19 infections not only in India but also across the world. However, there is no report about how deadly this variant is. Doctors are of the opinion that the COVID-19 vaccine should be tweaked accordingly to counter this variant.

The Indian SARS-CoV-2 Genomics Consortium (INSACOG) was only set up in January this year for genome sequencing five percent of all emerging infection samples in the country. Notably, reports about the double mutation in India surfaced in October last year.

India, on Wednesday, witnessed another record high of 2,95,041 new COVID-19 cases in the past 24 hours. The country’s coronavirus tally reached 1.56 crore. In the same time span, India also reported a record number of 2,023 deaths. The daily deaths crossed 2,000 for the first time since the beginning of the pandemic last year.

(The above story first appeared on Today News 24 on Apr 21, 2021 04:04 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website todaynews24.top).