Kappa variant of Covid-19 detected in Uttar Pradesh; all you need to know

Two cases of Kappa variant of coronavirus have been detected in Uttar Pradesh, as per an official statement issued today. Currently, the daily positivity rate in UP is 0.04%.

Kappa variant of Covid-19 detected in Uttar Pradesh

A genome sequencing of 109 samples done at King George's medical college in Lucknow has returned 107 confirmed samples of highly infections Delta variant of Covid-19, and also carried two samples of the Kappa variant.

"Both the variants are not new for the state. The facility of genome sequencing is being increased in the state," the statement issued after UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath's routine review meeting said.

When asked about the Kappa variant, Additional Chief Secretary (Health) Amit Mohan Prasad said earlier also cases of this variant were found in UP.

"There is nothing to worry about. This is a variant of coronavirus and its treatment is possible," he added.

Meanwhile, 10 more people succumbed to coronavirus in the state, bringing the toll to 22,676, while the infection count reached 17,07,044 on Thursday with the detection of 112 fresh cases.

Of the new fatalities linked to Covid-19, three were reported from Etah; two each from Amethi and Shahjahanpur; one each from Siddharthnagar, Pratapgarh, Moradabad, the UP government said.

Eleven of the fresh Covid-19 cases were recorded in Varanasi, nine in Lucknow and eight in Kanpur Nagar, it said.

In a span of 24 hours, 258 Covid-19 patients have recovered from the disease, taking the recovery count to 16,82,579. Uttar Pradesh has a Covid recovery rate of 98.6 per cent.

The count of active coronavirus cases stands at 1,789, the statement added Three districts of UP -- Shrawasti, Kasganj and Aligarh -- have no active cases now.

In the past 24 hours, over 2.59 lakh samples were tested for coronavirus in UP, while so far, more than 5.98 crore samples have been tested in the state.

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