New variant of Covid-19 detected in India

<p>
India’s health ministry said on Wednesday that a novel variant of the coronavirus had been detected in the country in addition to many other variants of concern also found abroad in UK, Brazil and South Africa. .</p>
<p>
“Though variants of concern (VOCs) and a new double mutant variant have been found in India, these have not been detected in numbers sufficient to either establish a direct relationship or explain the rapid increase in cases in some States,” the health ministry said in a statement.</p>
<p>
The Indian SARS-CoV-2 Consortium on Genomics (INSACOG) is a grouping of 10 National Laboratories that was established by Ministry of Health for carrying out genomic sequencing and analysis of circulating COVID-19 viruses, and correlating epidemiological trends with genomic variants. Genomic variants of various viruses are a natural phenomenon and are found in almost all countries, the statement said.</p>
<p>
Since INSACOG initiated its work, 771 variants of concerns (VOCs) have been detected in a total of 10787 positive samples shared by States/UTs. These include 736 samples positive for viruses of the UK lineage, 34 samples were found positive for viruses of the South African lineage.  One sample was found positive for viruses of the Brazilian lineage. The samples with these VOCs have been identified in 18 States of the country.</p>
<p>
Genome sequencing and analysis have been carried out on samples from arriving international travelers, contacts of those positive for VOC and community samples from most of the States at INSACOG partner laboratories, the health ministry statement explained.</p>