An Israeli scientist's claims that a new coronavirus variant has hit 10 Indian states has sparked concerns of a fourth wave of the COVID-19 pandemic.
In a series of tweets, Dr Shay Fleishon, who works at the Central Virology Laboratory at Sheba Medical Center in Tel Hashomer, has said that a total of 69 cases of the new sub-type have been seen in India.
“85 sequences have been uploaded so far, mainly from India (from 10 states) and seven other countries. No transmission could be tracked based on sequences outside India yet.”
India Hit by a New Corona Variant, Israeli Scientist Claims
© Photo : Twitter
Giving a break-down of the cases, Dr Fleishon said that as of 2 July 2022, 27 cases were reported in Maharasthra state, 13 in West Bengal, one each in Delhi, Jammu and Uttar Pradesh union territories, six in Haryana, three in Himachal Pradesh, 10 in Karnataka, five in Madhya Pradesh and two in Telangana.
Only time will tell whether BA.2.75 will become the next dominant variant, he said.
Omicron's sub-variants, BA.4 and BA.5 have been declared dominant in the US and many other countries, including India. And now another sub-variant of omicron, BA.2.75 has been detected in India.
Experts say the BA.2.75 variant includes new mutations in the spike protein, in addition to the mutations that are already present in the omicron variant. This gives the variant the ability to evade several antibodies and can infect people who have been vaccinated, or have been infected previously.
The detection of BA.2.75 has led scientists across the globe to dive deep into the research to know more about the new variant and the possibility of another COVID wave.
Scientists' research on the new corona variant BA.5 AND BA.2.75
© Photo : Twitter
India on Tuesday recorded 13,086 new coronavirus infections taking the total tally of COVID-19 cases to 43,531,650, and the active cases increased to 114,475, according to the Union Health Ministry. The death toll climbed to 525,242 with 19 new fatalities.
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