Around 65% of the people identified with the Delta-plus variant in Maharashtra were unvaccinated. Of the reported 103 cases of Delta-plus, 17 were vaccinated with both doses, while 18 people had taken only one dose.
A Times of India report stated that the Delta-plus variant which is a sub-lineage of the highly contagious Delta variant is currently present in 24 districts across Maharashtra. It was first reported in June and was found in six districts. State health department officials told TOI, that the variant was not spreading rapidly and the new detections were merely the genome sequencing results being communicated in tranches.
In this week, 27 fresh cases were recorded in seven districts of the state. In the latest batch, most cases were found in the Vidarbha region.
Despite fresh cases, authorities stated that the Delta variant is still the predominant strain in Maharashtra, found in over 70 per cent of cases. In Mumbai’s own genome sequencing facility at Kasturba laboratory, 70% of the 188 samples tested came positive for Delta.
The state’s surveillance officer Dr Pradeep Awate told TOI that most patients had mild symptoms or were asymptomatic and they have found that most had not taken the vaccine. “Since the sample size is small, we are keeping a close eye on Delta-plus, including the symptoms it can cause and the severity,” he said.
Reportedly, of the 103 cases, 49 patients didn’t require hospitalisation at all and all patients, barring the five who succumbed, have recovered, said Awate. Among the deceased, all were above 65 years and two were fully vaccinated and three hadn’t taken a single shot.
Of the total Delta-plus cases, 56 are men and 47 are women, while the highest infections have been predictably found in the age bracket of 19 to 45 years.
So far, the highest number of Delta-plus cases have been found in Ratnagiri- 14, Jalgaon- 13 and Mumbai reported 11 cases so far. Nearly 12,000 Covid samples have been sent for genome sequencing from the state to Pune’s National Institute of Virology and Delhi’s CSIR Institute of Genomics and Integrative Biology.
Read all the Latest News, Breaking News and Assembly Elections Live Updates here.
Comments
0 comment