Ten fresh cases of Delta Plus variant of Covid-19 have been detected in the state, taking the total number of such cases to 76, the State Health Department said. What is worrying the health officials is, the dreaded Delta Plus variant has been found in 80% of samples sent for genome sequencing. Of the ten fresh cases, six were detected in Kolhapur, three in Ratnagiri, and one case was found in Sindhudurg. The good news is, all ten patients have recovered.
Officials said that three sub-lineages of the Delta Plus variant are currently found in the state. The recent genome sequencing reports have shown the presence of 66 cases of Delta Plus in the state, which include sub-lineages Ay.1, Ay.2 and Ay.3.
As per the government data, of the 65 patients detected with Delta Plus across Maharashtra, 15 are from Ratnagiri, 13 from Jalgaon, 11 in Mumbai, seven in Kolhapur, six each in Thane and Pune, three each in Raigad and Palghar, two each in Nanded, Gondia and Sindhudurg, and one each in Chandrapur, Akola, Sangli, Nandurbar, Aurangabad, and Beed.
Officials said that they have kept the district authorities on alert, directing them to conduct strict vigilance and surveillance to curb the spread.
“The majority of the Delta Plus cases are at least two weeks old but complete contact tracing and surveillance is being carried out in the districts. Our analysis shows that all patients had mild to moderate symptoms,” the state’s surveillance officer, Dr Pradeep Awate, said. Moreover, the Delta Plus variant hasn’t caused severe disease in most patients.
