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As cases pile up in Dehradun, double mutant in Covid-19 samples causes concern
In all, five samples were sent by Doon Government Hospital to National Centre for Disease Control in Delhi in March. The hospital got the result a few days ago which confirmed the presence of the double mutant Covid-19 virus in three samples and the UK strain in one
Three samples collected in Uttarakhand’s Dehradun recently contain the double mutant variant of Covid-19, causing concern among the health officials and experts. With the sharp rise in Covid cases in the state, amid Kumbh mela that attracted millions of devotees, the state government has imposed a night curfew from 9pm to 5am in all districts.
In all, five samples were sent by Doon Government Hospital to National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) in Delhi in March. The hospital got the result a few days ago which confirmed the presence of the double mutant Covid-19 virus in three samples and the UK strain in one.
Confirming the development, Dr Deepak Juyal of the virology department in the hospital said, “The hospital had sent samples to detect the presence of the new strains in the samples collected in Dehradun. Five samples were sent, of those three from a private laboratory had the double mutant virus , B.1.617, and one had the UK strain, B.1.1.7.”
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Dr Juyal said the double mutant virus spreads at a much faster rate. “This is more virulent and if someone gets infected with it, the whole family would also get infected -- which was not the case last year.”
Another expert, Dr DD Chowdhury, national vice president of Indian Medical Association, who has been treating at least 20 Covid-19 patients on a daily basis in Dehradun, suspected that, “most of the cases in Dehradun are of double mutant virus only”.
“The transmission rate of this double mutant is more. But, the death rate is less. The patients infected from this virus are responding well to the treatment given by doctors,” he said.
However, he said, “People need to take precautions, including wearing of masks, social distancing and avoiding crowded places. There should be no complacency in this as it could prove costly.”
Uttarakhand has reported 126,193 Covid-19 cases since the outbreak last year. Of these, 102,899 have been treated.
The maximum number of Covid-19 cases in the state, 41,903, have been reported from Dehradun district so far. Till Monday, the total number of active cases in the state was 18,864 of which Dehradun had the most at 7,583.
The state has so far reported 1,892 Covid-related deaths of which 1,087 were recorded in Dehradun alone.
