The ‘Delta’ variant that caused havoc in the second wave still exists in Delhi- The ‘Delta’ variant that made a lot of people sick in the second wave of Covid-19 has gone nowhere. It still has the maximum number of samples in the capital. The same is the case with Maharashtra. In both places, delta variants have been found in more than 80% of the samples sent for genome sequencing in the month of July. Apart from this, cases of ‘alpha’ variants have also been seen in Delhi. In Maharashtra, the ‘Delta-Plus’ variant has been found in only 45 samples. The presence of ‘Delta-Plus’ in just 45 out of 8,000 samples means this variant is not as contagious as feared earlier.
Delhi has the highest ‘Delta’ in the last three months
Of the samples sent by the Delhi government for genome sequencing in the last three months, ‘delta’ has been found in at least 80 percent. According to the Delhi Disaster Management Authority (DDMA) data, the same variant was found in 83.3% of the genome sequencing samples in July. While the presence of ‘Delta’ variants was 88.6% in June and 81.7% in May.
‘Maybe the third wave may not come’
Dr Gupta is also a member of DDMA. He said that wearing masks, following social distancing and hand hygiene is very important to prevent the spread of the disease. He also stressed increasing the speed of vaccination. He said, “The third wave may come, may not come. It will depend on the mutation and the spread of the novel coronavirus.
Now ‘Delta’ has spread all over the world
The Delta variant (B.1.617.2) is actually a sub-lineage of the ‘Kappa’ variant (B.1.617). It was first detected in samples from Maharashtra in October 2020. Now it has spread all over the world. Scientists had said that ‘Delta’ is not only more infectious than other variants, but it also gives a higher viral load and also dodges the vaccine.
Maharashtra also has the highest number of cases of the ‘Delta’ variant.
The Maharashtra Health Department said that the number of cases of the delta-plus variant increased to 45 in July. However, this is only 0.5% of the 8,000 samples. The ‘Delta’ variant has been found in 87% of the samples sent from here.
