India reported 51 Delta Plus Covid cases in 12 states

India currently has 51 Delta Plus cases in 12 states with health officials keeping a close watch on the latest SARS-CoV-2 variant about which very little is known.

"We have 51 (Delta Plus) isolates from 12 states – Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Punjab, Gujarat, Kerala, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Odisha, Haryana and Jammu and Kashmir. We are keeping a close watch,” V K Paul, NITI Ayog member said here on Tuesday.

Last week, the Union Health Ministry wrote to the states reporting such cases to undertake containment measures in affected districts and send adequate samples for genome sequencing.

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"There is no scientific data yet on the transmissibility of Delta Plus and the severity of the disease that it can cause. Scientific work is going on to check whether our vaccines work against such a variant,” he said.

In comparison to the Delta variant, Delta Plus has an additional mutation known as K417N, which is known to be associated with immune evasion.

Delta Plus had been classified as a Variant of Concern because of its potential to have increased transmissibility, stronger binding to receptors of lung cells, reduction in monoclonal antibody response, and post-vaccination immune escape, the Central government said in a statement.