Delta Plus: Here's everything you need to about this new variant of Sars CoV 2

Just when we thought that the pandemic has reached its end, there came a new variant of Sars-CoV-2. This new variant is 'Delta Plus' or 'AY.1'. This variant just like the COVID-19 virus is highly transmissible. But unlike the COVID-19 virus, this Delta variant is resistant to the monoclonal antibody cocktail treatment.

Delta Plus

In the UK, there have been a high number of cases of this Delta variant, which has compelled UK PM Boris Johnson to push the reopening of the country to July 19. In India, however, the cases of the Delta variant are relatively low. Read on to know everything about this new variant.

This variant is characterised by the acquisition of K417N mutation. This mutation occurs in the spike protein of Sars-CoV-2 which enables the virus to enter the body and infect the cells of the human being.

Recently, there have been 63 genomes of this new Delta variant that have been identified on GISAID from Russia, Nepal, Canada, Germany, India, Poland, Japan, Portugal, Switzerland and the US. The earliest sequence was found in Europe in March 2021

With regard to the severity of this variant, immunologist Vineeta Bal stated that its resistance to monoclonal antibody cocktail treatment is not an indication of higher virulence or severity of a disease.

In India, it is reported that the Delta Plus variant was present in 6 genomes from India as of June 7.

In Maharasthra, the government has sent samples from various areas for genome sequencing to verify if any new mutation of Sars-CoV-2 has taken place.

Stay tuned with the newstrack to get fastest updates. Click @englishnewstrack to follow us on Facebook and @newstrackmedia to follow on Twitter.