Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot on Monday expressed his concern on Covid-19 variant Delta Plus AY.4.2, which after killing thousands of people in many countries, has now been detected in India.
He asked the Central government to issue standard operating procedure (SOP) for its prevention.
In a tweet in Hindi on Monday, he said, "Many cases of Delta Plus AY.4.2, a new variant of the coronavirus that has killed thousands of people in many countries including Russia, Britain, have also come to India. It spreads even faster than the delta variant. The Central government should prepare and issue SOPs for its prevention on the basis of the experience of other countries in time."
He further said, "Initially, there were only a few cases of the delta variant but it did not take time to spread across the country. Not to have a similar experience like the Delta variant, complete preparation is necessary."
What is the Delta Plus AY.4.2 variant?
AY.4.2, dubbed "Delta Plus" and now named VUI-21OCT-01 by the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA), has been under closer scrutiny in recent days after evidence indicated that it spread more quickly than the dominant Delta variant.
While evidence is still emerging, so far it does not appear the new VUI causes more severe disease or renders the vaccines currently deployed any less effective.
According to official statistics, the original Delta variant – first identified in India and later classed as Variant of Concern (VOC) in the UK – remains overwhelmingly dominant in the UK, making up approximately 99.8 per cent of all cases.
As of October 20, there were 15,120 cases of the new VUI-21OCT-01 confirmed by whole genome sequences in England since it was first detected in July.
