'Double mutant' variant of Sars-CoV-2 found: All you need to know about it

This new variant is in addition to the three other "variants of concern" (VOCs) - first noticed in the UK, South Africa and Brazil. The "double mutant" variant confers immune escape and increased infectivity.

On a day when India recorded its highest single-day Covid-19 caseload of the year, the Union health ministry said that detected a novel variant of the Sars-Cov-2. This variant, the ministry said on Wednesday, has been detected in seven states, including Maharashtra which has been witnessing a second wave of the infection.

The new variant of Sars-CoV-2 has been detected in seven states, and especially in high numbers in Maharashtra. (Reuters Photo)

The "double mutant" variant was detected in Delhi, Maharashtra and some other places in addition to the three "variants of concern" - first noticed in the UK, South Africa and Brazil, the ministry said at its briefing about the Covid-19 situation in the country.

The ministry, however, said it could not be sufficiently established yet if these variants were behind the recent spike in Covid-19 cases in some states.

Here is everything you need to know about this variant:

• The variant carries mutations that include those denoted by the letters E484Q and L452R, which have separately been linked to characteristics that make the virus spread more readily and defeat, to some extent, immunity from a vaccine or past infection.
• The "double mutant" variant was found in a large number of samples, 206, in Maharashtra.
• The health ministry said that samples from six more states recorded this variant, with Delhi having the next highest numbers at 9.
• This new variant is in addition to the three other "variants of concern" (VOCs) - first noticed in the UK, South Africa and Brazil - that have been found in at least 18 states and union territories (UTs), said the health ministry.
• National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) Director S K Singh said that 771 cases of VOCs have been detected in a total of 10,787 positive samples in these states and UTs.
• Genomic sequencing by the Indian SARS-CoV-2 Consortium on Genomics (INSACOG) and epidemiological studies are continuing to further analyse the situation. The INSACOG is a grouping of 10 national laboratories for carrying out genomic sequencing and was established by the central government on December 25 last year.
• The Sars-Cov-2 virus was seen to be picking up about two mutations a month.