Indore (Madhya Pradesh): A new variant known as AY.4 has been found in seven persons including two army officers posted at Mhow cantonment in Indore, sources said.
This came to the fore after the National Centre of Disease Control (NCDC) released a genome sequencing report, recently, source said.
As per the NCDC report, the new variant led to the surge of COVID-19 infection in Indore in September this year. Notably, 44 army officials posted at Mhow cantonment were found COVID-19 positive in September, this year, leading to a 64% jump in the cases in the district.
A senior Health officer confirmed the report and said the report regarding the new variant was released by NCDC in first fortnight of October.
“AY.4 variant is a sub-lineage of Delta variant that has been reported in Maharashtra, earlier,” the officer said.
The officer added that the new variant was a variant of interest as of now. It was not a variant of concern, the officer said adding, “The research on the new variant is on. It is too early to comment on its nature.”
