India - COVID-19 variant Delta Plus is now ‘variant of concern’, three states told to keep a watch - B.1.617.2.1

[Mary Wilson]

Updated: June 23, 2021 7:02:15 am
Kaunain Sheriff M

The Union Health Ministry on Tuesday categorised the Delta Plus variant of the novel coronavirus, so far detected in three states in the country, as a ‘variant of concern’ and directed states to take up immediate containment measures in clusters where the variant has been detected.

The decision comes after INSACOG, a consortium of 28 laboratories of the Health Ministry that is involved in genome sequencing, informed the Centre on Tuesday that the Delta Plus variant has three worrying characteristics: increased transmissibility; stronger binding in receptors of lung cells; and potential reduction in monoclonal antibody response.

Delta Plus variant or B.1.617.2.1 is closely related to the Delta variant ...

https://indianexpress.com/article/in...watch-7371167/

[etudiant]

There was an earlier posting indicating that some corona virus variants were vastly more infectious (100x was claimed) than the current Covid variants.
That implies that this outbreak could escalate much more rapidly than we have seen to date, depending on how the mutations emerge.
Not reassuring if true..

[sharon sanders]

bump this