NEW DELHI
About 300 cases of Delta plus variant have been reported in India so far, informed the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare on Thursday. But the Delta variant, the government said, has been isolated in the country due to vaccination.
"About 300 cases of Delta plus variant of SARS-CoV-2 detected in India so far," the health ministry said
Meanwhile, Director-General of ICMR Dr Balram Bhargava added, "Delta variant has been isolated in the country and vaccine efficacy against Delta variants has been tested in the country."
Speaking on the new Covid-19 variant Mu, which emerged from South American country Columbia, Dr Balram Bhargava said that even though it has been identified as a variant of interest, "there is no serious disease or rapid spread".
However, NITI Ayog member Dr VK Paul said the "mutants risk will continue". He added that INSACOG (Indian SARS-CoV-2 Consortium on Genomics) has all the tools to test and track the Covid-19 cases, especially on foreigners.
"Generic surveillance of foreign travellers is the foremost pillar for INSACOG. We don’t need to compare our vaccination with those countries that have a lesser population than ours," he said.
