North India is having one type of Covid virus, which is completely different from that of the one spreading in the south. Similarly, the western parts of Maharashtra, Gujarat and Rajasthan are having another type of pathogen, while the areas of West Bengal and other eastern parts of the country are witnessing the spread of a different mutant variant of the deadly coronavirus.
The observations by the scientists from the CSIR lab Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB) in Hyderabad flagged this concern about the presence of four major variants of virus that are spreading widely in different parts of the country. This comes at the time when India is witnessing record spike of Covid-19 cases this year when compared to previous year. The scientists said only one or two mutants variants were doing the rounds last year.
The study conducted by the CSIR lab is part of the continuous research of genome sequencing of the prevailing lethal virus causing Covid-19 disease. Dr Rakesh Mishra, director of CCMB, said that the main reason that is causing coronavirus spread widely in India is its different variants.
“If the virus is of singular variant having no mutations, its spread can be curtailed by breaking its infection chain. However, in India we have identified 4 different mutant variants of coronaviruses, which are spreading widely in different parts of the country,” said Mishra, while explaining the major cause of the huge spike in Covid cases in the country.
As per the research study revealed by the CCMB scientists, it is understood that the northern parts of India such as Delhi, Haryana, UP, Punjab and other areas are witnessing the UK variant of Covid virus, apart from this, the B1.617 variant is also widely spreading.
The CSIR observation comes a day after the Union Health Ministry had said at a Press conference that Uttar Pradesh has seen 5.4 times more cases in April than September last while Chhattisgarh reported a 4.5-time rise, Delhi a 3.3-time increase, Rajasthan a five-time spike and Andhra Pradesh saw a 1.4-time rise in the number of cases.
While in Maharashtra, the State which is witnessing highest record Covid-19 cases in the country is said to have been witnessing the double mutant and triple mutant variant of Covid virus. In addition to these variants, the B1.617-1,2,3 variants of the Covid viruses are also prevailing in this region, because of which Maharashtra and the surrounding States are witnessing the highest number of Covid cases and related deaths in the country.
“In Maharashtra, apart from double mutant variants about 10 per cent cases are also found to be having triple mutant Covid infections. This triple mutant variant of virus is most infectious and is the main reason for the wide spread of the disease,” observed the CCMB scientists. Maharashtra, which saw 24,886 cases in September last year, but the figure rose to 68,631 cases in April, which is 2.8 times higher.
In the Eastern parts of India, including West Bengal, Manipur and other regions are found to have the B1.618 variant virus. More than 20 per cent of cases are found to have been infected by this kind of coronavirus variant in the eastern parts of the country.
Similarly States like Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu are witnessing N440K variant of Covid-19 virus is said to be widely spreading. When asked as to which type of Covid-19 variant is most infectious and widely spreading the scientists said that the UK variant, double mutant and N440K are most infectious variants and because of these mutant variants India is witnessing highest number of Covid-19 cases in the world, observed the scientists.
In fact, the States identified by the CSIR which are witnessing different variants have emerged as the States of concern where the cases have surged rapidly with the Union Health Ministry too admitting that since April, there has been a steep rise in the number of cases in these States. Data speaks: From April 5 onwards, the country saw over one lakh cases being reported in a day, while from April 15, the single-day rise in the number of cases went past two lakh and from April 22, it started recording over three lakh daily cases.