Chandigarh sees 124 Covid variants of concern
Naina Mishra
Tribune News Service
Chandigarh, June 25
The city has reported 124 variants of concern since February, revealed data tabulated by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare today.
Ninety samples of Alpha and 34 of Delta variants have been recorded as of June 21. The neighbouring Punjab has reported 1,431 variants of concern and Haryana 945.
As per the ministry’s statement, the Delta variant, which was first reported in Maharashtra, has increased transmissibility, stronger binding to receptors of lung cells, potential reduction in monoclonal antibody response and potential post-vaccination immune escape.
When the cases started rising in the second week of March in Chandigarh, the PGI had sent 60 samples, including 45 from the city, to the National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) on March 25. Of these, 31 were found having the Alpha variant, (B.1.1.7), while mutation was detected in 12 samples.
The early phase of the upsurge was driven by the entry of the more transmissible B.1.1.7 (first detected in the UK) in Chandigarh. This was followed by seeding of the B.1.617 variant of concern – which too is highly transmissible – with the rapid expansion of B.1.617.2 sub-lineage (Delta variant) outpacing all other lineages in the samples of May.
The highly transmissible B.1.617 variant of Covid-19 was found in five of the 23 samples sent by the PGI in April last week. B.1.1.7 was found in nine samples.
To study whether there was any change in the circulating strain in Chandigarh during the second wave, the PGIS sent 25 stored Covid positive samples from May 5 to May 24 for whole genome sequencing. The Delta variant was found in 60 per cent samples.
In India, a total of 21,109 variants of concern have been reported, with the Delta and Kappa variants having 77 per cent (16,297) share.
