The Delta strain of Coronavirus – a mutated variant of concern with high transmissibility and ability to trigger aggravated life-threatening symptoms in patients – was found to be the most prevalent mutant strain of Coronavirus in five of the worst Covid-hit Jharkhand districts during random sampling done from April 1 to June 9, officials said on Monday.
The Health Department sent 364 samples of Covid-19 patients randomly selected from five districts – Ranchi, Jamshedpur, Dhanbad, Hazaribag and Palamu – for Whole Genome Sequencing to the Institute of Life Sciences (ILS) in Bhubaneswar and the results showed that at least 204 of the samples were infected by the Delta variant of Coronavirus. The Delta variant of SARS-CoV-2 is also said to be the reason behind the unprecedented spike in Covid cases during the second wave in India and many other countries.
Besides, as many as 63 samples were infected by the Kappa variant of the virus, while 29 were infected by the Alpha variant, which was first reported in the United Kingdom, the genome sequencing results showed. The Delta variant, which is said to be 40 per cent more transmissible than the Alpha variant, was first detected in India in late 2020. The Kappa variant too was first found in India.
While the Delta variant of coronavirus was found to be most prevalent among the five aforementioned districts, the new Delta plus variant, reported in Maharashtra, Punjab, Madhya Pradesh and Tamil Nadu were not detected in Jharkhand during the recent genome sequencing, health officials said.
“The Delta variant, which is a variant of concern, was found to be most prevalent in five districts from where samples were collected. However, the new Delta plus variant was not found in any of the samples sent for genome sequencing,” said Dr. Siddharth Tripathi, the nodal officer of the health department’s Information, Education and Communication (IEC) wing. “Samples from other districts will also be sent for genome sequencing soon,” he added.
Of the 364 samples sent to Bhubaneswar, at least 328 were found to be variants of concern. According to World Health Organisation (WHO), a variant of coronavirus which causes more deaths and triggers severer symptoms in patients is categorized as a variant of concern.
Of the 204 Delta variants detected in the state, 86 were from Jamshedpur, 26 from Ranchi, 32 from Dhanbad, 39 from Hazaribag and 21 from Palamu. Of the 63 Kappa variants, 43 were from Jamshedpur, eight from Ranchi, four from Dhanbad, five from Hazaribag and three from Palamu. As many as 29 samples were found infected by the Alpha variant and 18 of them were from Ranchi, seven from Hazaribag and two from Palamu.