Army officers among 7 affected with new Delta variant in Bhopal

Seven cases of AY.4, a sub-lineage of the Delta variant of COVID-19 has been detected in samples from Madhya Pradesh’s Indore in a genome sequencing report by the National Centre of Disease Control (NCDC).

The samples were collected in September, a Times of India report said.

The report quoting Indore chief medical and health officer Dr BS Saitya said two of the samples were of Army officers posted in the Mhow Cantonment.

According to the NCDC report, the variant was responsible for a rise in COVID-19 cases in Indore district in September, which saw a 64 per cent surge as compared to August.

Samples were sent for examination after as many as 44 Army officers at the Army War College, Mhow tested positive for COVID.

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Dr Saitya told TOI that the NCDC published first of the seven reports on October 1 and the rest on October 16.

Besides AY.4, five new cases of Delta plus variant have been detected in Indore, the NCDC report has said.

A sub-lineage of the Delta variant, AY is currently a variant of interest although little is known about its transmissibility or potential to cause severe or breakthrough infections.

In April, the variant was first reported in 1 per cent samples in Maharashtra during the COVID-19 genome surveillance. Maharashtra’s share spiked to 2 per cent in July and then 44 per cent in August.

The Delta variant (or B.1.617.2) which was first detected in India in October last year is said to have triggered a massive second outbreak of the pandemic in the country as well as Europe and the US. While Delta Plus, a mutated variant of Delta is a variant of concern, experts have been keeping an eye on its 55 sub-lineages.