Delta variant of Covid-19 dominating in Kerala

Among various variants of coronavirus prevalent in Kerala, the Delta variant has been dominating in Kerala infections. Alpha, Kappa, Beta and Gamma are the other variants spotted in the state during the second wave of Covid-19.

Kerala Covid expert committee member Dr. T S Anish said that besides Indian SARS-CoV-2 Genomics Consortium (INSACOG) analysis, the Kerala health department was also continuously monitoring new variants of the virus in association with the Rajiv Gandhi Centre for Biotechnology.

Also read: Why Kerala is witnessing another surge in Covid-19 cases

The Kozhikode Medical College is also carrying out genome sequencing. So far, no fresh variants of the virus were spotted in the state.

A report of INSACOG found that out of the 2,390 Variant of Concerns analysed from Kerala, 1,482 were Delta, 642 Alpha, 197 Kappa, 65 Beta and one Gamma. Three Delta-plus variants were also reported in Kerala.

State health department sources said that the Delta variant was found to be having a sweeping effect over the other variants. In areas where Delta is dominating, other variants were not much found. As of now, there were no concerns for Kerala over any fresh variants of coronavirus.