New COVID ‘double mutant variant’ detected in India: Health ministry

A new variant of COVID-19 has been detected in the country apart from several other variants of concern (VOCs) found abroad, the Centre said on Wednesday (March 24) amid a spike in fresh cases across the country.

The Union Health Ministry, however, clarified that it is still not known if the mutants are responsible for the sudden spurt in infections in the country.

“Though VOCs and a new double mutant variant have been found in India, these have not been detected in numbers sufficient to either establish a direct relationship or explain the rapid increase in cases in some states,” the Union Health Ministry said.

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The government said, the British variant of the virus has been found in 736 samples in India out of a total of 10,787. While the South African variant has been detected in 34 people, the Brazil variant has been found in one person.

India on Wednesday reported a single-day spike of 47,262 new COVID cases and 275, deaths, the highest in 24 hours this year, against 23,907 recoveries.

The spike in infections and detection of mutant variants of the virus come amid the Centre’s mass vaccination drive. According to Health Ministry data, so far 5,08,41,286 people have been vaccinated across the country. The Centre on Wednesday extended the programme for people aged above 45 years, while it was earlier limited to healthcare and frontline workers as well as those above 60 and above 45 with co-morbidities.

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