PUNE The State health department said that even though there is a slight increase in the number of delta-plus Covid cases, the overall number is not high.
Of 20 fresh cases of the delta-plus variant detected on Wednesday, three are from Pune district. State officials said that of 65 cases so far, 33 are from the age group of 18 to 45 years.
Genome sequencing for these cases is done by the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) - Institute of Genomics and Integrative Biology (IGIB).
Of these, three cases are from Pune district and three from Thane district.
The maximum number of cases were found in Jalgaon district, where 13 people tested positive, while 12 tested positive in Ratnagiri district and 11 in Mumbai.
Three patients tested positive in Palghar. Nanded, Gondia and Raigad district reported two cases each. Chandrapur, Akola, Sindhudurg, Sangli, Nandurbar, Aurangabad, Kolhapur and Beed reported one patient, each taking the total to 65 cases.
Dr Pradeep Awate, state surveillance officer said that in districts where the delta-plus variant has been found, information about the patients is being collected and patients are being monitored closely.
“There is an increase, but the increase in the number of patients is not that high. Delta-plus and delta variant cases are reported because there is a detailed sequencing of tests done. We have so far tested 10,000 samples through genome sequencing and only 65 have tested positive for the delta-plus variant,” said Dr Awate.
{{/usCountry}}“There is an increase, but the increase in the number of patients is not that high. Delta-plus and delta variant cases are reported because there is a detailed sequencing of tests done. We have so far tested 10,000 samples through genome sequencing and only 65 have tested positive for the delta-plus variant,” said Dr Awate.
{{/usCountry}}He added that contact tracing is also carried out for delta-plus variants.
“As per a memorandum of understanding (MoU), signed by Maharashtra state and IGIB, genome sequencing on 100 samples from each district is to be done every month,” said Awate.
Post the genome sequencing, 80 per cent of cases are positive for delta variants. “And 65 individual samples have been tested positive for the delta-plus variant,” said Awate.
Speaking about the delta and delta-plus variant, Dr Dnyaneshwar Mote, member of the Pune city Covid task force for Social Action said that the virus will have variants.
“These variants are more contagious than other variants. The situation is getting worse worldwide and India should be alert. To tackle the situation, the best solution is to fully vaccinate the population. As more people are vaccinated, there will be increased immunity, which will stop the virus from mutating into further dangerous variants,” said Mote.
Box
Delta-plus Covid variant
Fresh cases as of August 12
Mumbai - 7
Pune - 3
Nanded, Gondia, Palghar and Raigad -- 2
Chandrapur and Akola -- 1
Total fresh cases -- 20
Total cases so far -- 65