Odisha reports first Delta Plus case, 62-year-old male found infected

Odisha on Friday reported its first case of Delta Plus variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus, said to be a ‘variant of concern’ with increased transmissibility, from Deogarh district even as the state government said there is little cause for concern, Additional chief secretary, health, PK Mohapatra said

Odisha on Friday reported its first case of Delta Plus variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus, said to be a ‘variant of concern’ with increased transmissibility, from Deogarh district even as the state government said there is little cause for concern, Additional chief secretary, health, PK Mohapatra said.

Odisha reports first Delta Plus case, 62-year-old male found infected

“The infected person did not receive any vaccination when his swab sample was taken for the test and subsequent genome sequencing. He has recovered from the infection,” said Mohapatra.

A 62-year-old male from Deogarh district was among the 48 cases of Delta Plus in the country after genome sequencing of the virus was conducted by laboratories.

Scientists at the Institute of Life Sciences in Bhubaneswar, where the genome sequencing was done in the second week of May, however, did not find any other case of Delta Plus variant even though 600 cases of genome sequencing were conducted after that.

Delta plus (B.1.617.2.1/(AY.1), said to be a variant with increased transmissibility, is the latest in the long list of new mutant forms of the Delta strain with health experts warning that it may lead to a third wave of the pandemic in the country.

So far, Maharashtra, which was the worst-hit state in the second surge of the Covid-19 pandemic, has detected 20 cases, the maximum number of Delta Plus positives. Tamil Nadu comes second with 9 cases and Madhya Pradesh with 7 cases.

Director, health services, Dr Bijay Moahapatra said there was no cause for concern and the third wave of the Covid -19 pandemic can be predicted before it arrives in Odisha. “The effects of the first and the second waves were felt in Delhi and Mumbai first and later in Odisha. So, we can well predict the arrival of the third wave but we have to be cautious and prepared,” he said.

On Friday, Odisha reported 2,912 fresh cases of Covid-19 as the TPR dropped to 4.53, indicating a decline in the Covid wave. Several districts, however, like Khurda, Jajpur, Balasore and Cuttack continued to report a test positivity rate (TPR) above 5. Khurda’s TPR was more than 10.

The daily Covid-19 fatalities have also remained over 40 since June 1 with 2,000 deaths reported in the last 3 months in the state. Of the 29,512-odd active cases in the state, around 22% are under treatment at various hospitals while 8% are in the ICUs