No evidence that Delta Plus variant will cause Covid-19 third wave, says expert

This comes a day after the Union Health Ministry labeled Delta Plus a 'variant of concern'

As concerns mount in India about a possible third wave of Covid-19, one of India's top genome sequencers has waved off concerns of the new mutant Delta Plus causing a rise in infections.

This comes a day after the Union Health Ministry classified Delta Plus as a 'Variant of Concern' in India. As of June 23, India had 40 cases of the variant, and Maharashtra, Kerala and Madhya Pradesh have been warned by the Centre.

"At this point, there is no evidence to suggest that Delta Plus has anything to do with a possible third wave," Dr Anurag Agarwal of the Institute of Genomics and Integrative Biology (IGIB) told NDTV. "My institute has sequenced more than 3,500 samples from Maharashtra in June, covering samples from April and May. We can see that these (Delta Plus variants) are very much there, but these would constitute less than one per cent," he added.

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Agarwal and other experts have warned people to not let their guard down as laxity at this point could bring us back to square one.

He said before we concern ourselves with the third wave, we must worry about the second wave not ending.

Delta Plus: Is it a concern or not?

Opposing messages about the variant have kept health officials across states on their toes. The three aforementioned states have been instructed to take up immediate containment measures like avoiding crowding and intermingling of people. Meanwhile, Karnataka has expressed concerns that the variant may proliferate its border from neighbouring states.

Earlier this month, Maharashtra's health department had said the new variant may trigger the third wave of coronavirus in the state and may push active cases in the state up to 8 lakh, 10 per cent of which could be children.

This was two days after Niti Aayog member V K Paul had said Delta Plus was a "variant of interest" and not a "variant of concern".

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On June 23, Indian Council of Medical Research-National Institute of Virology (NIV) Scientist Dr Pragya Dhruv Yadav said at present, there is no proof for Delta Plus present in our country.

While most of the older Delta Plus cases found in India and around the world are of the AY.1 variety, scientific reports indicate that the mutant virus is further mutating into an even more dangerous form called AY.2.

Mixed information about the virus may create panic among the public, which Agarwal said, has to be avoided. "I certainly do not see any reason right now for people to panic regarding Delta Plus being significantly worse than Delta or creating a major third wave," he said.