E-Paper
No unusual spike in cases from ‘Delta plus areas’ in the state
Pune: Amidst fears that the ‘Delta plus’ variant of the coronavirus could be more transmissible, the state health department has observed no spike in Covid-19 cases from the pockets where it was reported last month in the state
Pune: Amidst fears that the ‘Delta plus’ variant of the coronavirus could be more transmissible, the state health department has observed no spike in Covid-19 cases from the pockets where it was reported last month in the state. The cases of ‘Delta plus’ variants of the virus have been reported from Ratnagiri, Jalgaon, Mumbai, Palghar, Thane, and Sindhudurg. According to the state health officials, over the period of a month, the total tally of the reported cases of this variant has reached only to 23.
“23 cases of ‘Delta plus’ have been identified so far in the state. Initially in June, 21 cases were identified and before 10 days 2 cases were reported from Mumbai. We are doing regular testing. A spike in ‘Delta plus’ cases has not been observed. The unusual spike in caseload is not being reported in the areas from which ‘Delta plus’ cases were identified,” said Dr Pradip Awate, state surveillance officer.
The new variant mutated in the Delta or B.1.617.2 variant, first identified in India. The Maharashtra state administration has tied up the Institute of Genomics and Integrative Biology (IGIB) for the genome sequencing of Covid-19’s positive samples from each district every month.
The highest number of ‘Delta plus’ cases at nine were reported from Ratnagiri district, where the weekly positivity rate (July 13-July 20) is 6.1% and higher than the state average of 4%. According to the state health officials, no fresh cases of ‘Delta plus’ have been recorded in the district.
“We have collected more samples from the areas where ‘Delta plus’ was reported. But this variant has not been found in those samples. The unusual spike in caseload is not being reported in the areas from which ‘Delta plus’ cases were identified. Recently, two cases were reported from Mumbai, but as we have noticed no unusual spike have been recorded from there,” said Awate.
Citing ‘Delta plus’ a variant of concern Maharashtra government had rolled back its Level 5 restrictions unlock policy and imposed Level 3 as a baseline for the curbs on June 25. On being asked about when the state may have further relaxations, state health minister Rajesh Tope on Wednesday said that the curve of Covid cases has to go further down.
“The objective behind the current Level 3 restrictions is to avoid crowding. Currently, the state has been reporting positive cases between 6,000-7,000. The recovery rate is almost double the number of infections. The curve in Maharashtra has been plateaued since last month, but it is neither going up nor going down. If the curve goes down further then we can surely ease the curbs. If we observe the trend of declining in the daily cases then relaxations could be in order. But it is not happening. So, these cautionary steps are taken,” Tope said in an interview with a Marathi news channel.
Tope also asked the Indian Council for Medical Research (ICMR) to issue the guidelines to states for the relaxation policy from the Covid induced curbs. “Entire country has been working according to the protocols set by ICMR and Maharashtra is not an exception to it. ICMR should give us protocols and suggestions about further relaxations based on its observations from the SERO survey. Central teams visited 10 districts. They were told to avoid crowding, more testing, tracking, and observance of the norms. Our actions are in conformity with the guidelines given by the Centre. So, I request ICMR to give us guidelines on this. We will take action accordingly,” said Tope.
