Chennai nurse, first case of Delta Plus variant in TN, has recovered

Her RT-PCR report returned positive on May 4. She was in home isolation with mild symptoms. She was re-tested on May 19 and the report returned negative so she re-joined her duty the following day

Tamil Nadu has reported its first case of Delta Plus variant of the SARS-CoV-2. The patient was a 32-year-old staff nurse in Chennai, but she has recovered now. Her RT-PCR report returned positive on May 4. She was in home isolation with mild symptoms. She was re-tested on May 19 and the report returned negative so she re-joined her duty the following day.

A medic takes swab samples for Covid-19 test of people entering Tamil Nadu from Andhra Pradesh. (File photo)

Health secretary J Radhakrishnan said her contacts in her work place and family were found to be Covid-19 negative. “She is currently doing well without any illness or post Covid-19 complications,” said a report from the directorate of public health and preventive medicine.

So far, Tamil Nadu has sent 1,159 samples to Bengaluru-based lab InStem for whole genome sequencing. As of today, results of 772 samples (67%) have been received. The findings show that the Delta variant (B.1.617.2) was the most common reported in 556 samples (72%), followed by the Alpha (B.1.1.7) variant in 65 samples (8.4%). “This one Delta Plus variant of SARS CoV-2 was reported among the 556 Delta strains,” the report said.