E-Paper
Bengaluru logs first case of Delta Plus variant, says Karnataka health minister
The Delta variant of coronavirus has been held responsible for the deadly second wave of the pandemic in India. Several other countries also consider Delta as the factor behind a sudden surge of infections.
Karnataka health minister Dr K Sudhakar on Wednesday confirmed the presence of the Delta Plus variant of Covid-19 in Bengaluru. Two cases of the new variants have been reported in Karnataka – one each in Bengaluru and Mysuru, the minister said.
The minister said the information has been shared with the Union health ministry and a further course of action is being planned. Adding that the state is monitoring the emergence of new variants, he announced that six genome labs were functioning in the state. “Wherever we have a suspicion, we are doing genomic sequencing. We are doing random checks of five per cent of the total samples checked,” Sudhakar said.
The Delta variant of coronavirus has been held responsible for the deadly second wave of the pandemic in India. Several other countries also consider Delta as the factor behind a sudden surge of infections.
He said that in the case detected in Mysuru the patient has been isolated and he is asymptomatic. “The virus hasn’t infected the primary and secondary contacts. The person is under observation,” the minister said.
“Monoclonal Antibody treatment that was effective for the Delta variant is being resisted by the Delta Plus variant. Wherever there is a possibility of the Delta variant being found, across the districts, genome sequencing is being done there. A minimum 5% of random check-up is also being done,” he added.
Stating that vaccination is the only way forward, Sudhakar said that the government is confident that the Covid-19 virus can be controlled. “CM BS Yediyurappa has flagged off an accelerated vaccination drive recently which resulted in 11,24,355 lakh doses of vaccination in a single day. We are ramping up the vaccination process every day. Yesterday (Tuesday), our state completed providing 2 crore Covid-19 vaccine doses,” the minister said.
He added that the state received 4.5 lakh vaccine doses on Wednesday. “We have set up more than 13,000 sites to administer vaccines to people. Our state has been conducting more than 1 lakh Covid-19 tests every day,” he said.
On Tuesday, the high-level committee led by Dr Devi Shetty formed to prevent the possible Covid-19 third wave submitted an interim report to the government. “It has been decided that within 45 days, preparations will be made at the district level, from setting up ICU units to deploying health care staff,” he said.
