E-Paper
Delta variant found in 16 Covid samples from Agra
Agra Out of 40 samples sent from Agra for genome sequencing of Covid-19, the Delta variant was traced in 16
Agra Out of 40 samples sent from Agra for genome sequencing of Covid-19, the Delta variant was traced in 16. Out of these 16 samples, 10 were of those residing in Agra.. The remaining samples were of two people from Hathras, two from Firozabad, one from Mainpuri and one from Saharanpur.
“Viral Diagnostic and Research Lab (VDRL), Microbiology Department of SN Medical College, Agra had sent 40 samples on June 5 and 20 samples on June 26 to the Institute of Genomics and Integrative Biology (IGIB), New Delhi for genome sequencing,” informed Dr Aarti Agarwal, head of Microbiology Department and nodal officer for VDRL at SN Medical College here.
“We have now received the results of the 40 samples and Delta variant has been confirmed in 16 of them . Out of these,, 10 samples are from Agra, and the remaining six from Hathras, Firozabad, Mainpuri and Saharanpur. All these patients werebeing treated at the Covid Hospital of SN Medical College here,” she said.
“”Eight variants of Covid-19 are declared ‘Variant of Interest’ by the World Health Organisation and include Eta, Lota, Kappa, Lambda, Alpha, Beta, Gamma and Delta (or Delta Plus),” said Dr Agarwal.
“However, there was no confirmation of Delta Plus variant in any of the samples which is good news because Delta Plus variant has high transmissibility and causes higher death rate,,” she said..
“To protect oneself, one should wear mask and observe social distancing. More and more people should be vaccinated by increasing the pace of vaccination. One should go to public places only if very necessary,,” cautioned the microbiologist.
