Raising serious concerns about the recent rise in cases in Maharashtra and Punjab, Health ministry has said that a new double mutant coronavirus strain with increased infectivity has been discovered in India.
While the government claimed that the increase was unrelated to any of the mutations, the percentage of such cases had increased in Maharashtra, where more than 200 cases were observed with the double mutant strain. There were nine such samples in Delhi.
A large pool of susceptible cases is one of the many reasons for a surge. Wherever this pool is large and people lower their guard, they will catch the infection if they come into contact with the virus, mutant or not,” said Sujeet Kumar Singh, director of the National Centre for Disease Control.
The double mutant strain is a mash-up of two versions – E484Q and L452R – both of which have been present in India for a few months. The double mutation results in immune escape, which allows the virus to bypass the body’s immune defences and increase infectivity. “These mutations have been found in approximately 15-20% of samples and do not match any previously catalogued variants of concern,” according to the health ministry.
The Indian SARS-CoV-2 Consortium on Genomics (INSACOG), a group of ten national laboratories launched by the health ministry in December to study genetic mutations, found this new strain through genome sequencing.
“Currently, SARS-CoV-2 variants have been detected in the community for the last 6-8 months. Various states that are seeing an increase in cases have revealed different mutation profiles, according to post-sequencing,” Singh said. He also stated that there has been no evidence of a link between the increase in Covid-19 cases and overseas travellers. The government has stressed that both the vaccines are effective against the mutation. “It is well established that the vaccines available are effective against UK and Brazil variants. The research against the South African variant is ongoing,” said Balram Bhargava, director general, Indian Council of Medical Research.
There are three variants of concern (VOCs) in India — the UK, Brazilian and South African strains. These have been found in 18 states.
Out of 10,787 positive samples shared by states, 771 VOCs were detected by the genomics consortium. These include 736 samples positive for viruses of the UK lineage. Thirty-four samples were found positive for the South African strain and one was the Brazil variant.
“Though VOCs and a new double mutant variant have been found in India, these have not been detected in numbers sufficient to either establish direct relationship or explain the rapid increase in cases in some states. Genomic sequencing and epidemiological studies are continuing to further analyse the situation,” a health ministry statement said.
The revelation came on a day when India recorded 47,262 fresh coronavirus cases, the highest single-day rise recorded in 132 days. There were 275 new fatalities, the highest in around 83 days, the health ministry said.
