Two days after the Centre rejected Tripura’s claim of having detected 138 cases of Delta Plus variant of Covid-19 virus in the state, chief minister Biplab Kumar Deb reasoned on Tuesday that it could be because the coding of Delta and Delta Plus variants kept changing from time to time.
On July 9 Tripura government had declared that 138 cases of Delta Plus variant were detected among 151 Covid-19 samples sent for genome sequencing to West Bengal’s Kalyani. The Delta Plus variant is believed to be highly contagious and was declared a variant of concern by the Indian government. Till June 30, India recorded 56 Delta Plus variant cases in 12 states. On July 8, two cases of the variant were recorded in Uttar Pradesh.
Following Tripura’s claim, the Union health ministry on July 11 stated that the north eastern state had no case of Delta Plus variant and three out of the 151 samples from the state had tested positive for Alpha variant (B.1.1.7), 11 for plain Delta (B.1.617.1) and 138 for the Delta variant (B.1.617.2) during genome sequencing in West Bengal’s laboratory.
“There is a parameter for Delta and Delta plus. We sent the samples to Kalyani. There is a parameter like 1.664. These parameters keep on changing from time to time. Suppose, a Covid variant is found seven or 15 days ago and after 15 days it will change. Based on this, the Government of India has clarified it through PIB. The Centre is monitoring the Covid situation and we are following it, united,” said Deb.
{{/usCountry}}“There is a parameter for Delta and Delta plus. We sent the samples to Kalyani. There is a parameter like 1.664. These parameters keep on changing from time to time. Suppose, a Covid variant is found seven or 15 days ago and after 15 days it will change. Based on this, the Government of India has clarified it through PIB. The Centre is monitoring the Covid situation and we are following it, united,” said Deb.
{{/usCountry}}A senior official from the state health department said he couldn’t comment on the CM’s statement without listening to it. However, when asked if variants could change with time, he said,”There is a possibility of mutation.”
A worried Tripura had announced weekend curfew in 13 local urban bodies, including Agartala Municipal Corporation, from July 10 to July 12 and extended corona curfew till July 17 believing it needed to contain the spread of Delta Plus variant cases in the state.
On Tuesday, Deb urged residents to stay cautious to keep fit and healthy by maintaining Covid containment guidelines.
“The fatality rate in our state is low. Though the Covid positivity rate is above 5%, it is maintained. The state government is working to bring it to zero with cooperation from people,” he said.
He also claimed that the state had achieved the highest vaccination rate even after the Tripura high court recently termed the figure inaccurate and asked the state to clarify on the issue.
He also said that the Covid guidelines were being revised with the development of technology.