DIBRUGARH: The Regional Medical Research Centre for Northeast region (ICMR-RMRC, Dibrugarh) in Lahowal stated that no case of the Covid-19 Delta Plus variant has been detected in the state to date.
The Delta Plus variant is a mutated form of the Delta variant of the coronavirus, which was first found in India. The Delta Plus variant, which spreads more rapidly than the previous known variants, is currently present in 12 countries. Till now, 48 cases of the Delta Plus variant has been found in India.
Nodal officer and scientist of ICMR-RMRC, Dr Biswajyoti Borkakoty, on Wednesday said that all the samples tested at the institute’s Viral Research and Diagnostic Laboratory (VRDL) have returned negative results in terms of the Delta Plus strain. In July last year, a team led by Dr Borkakoty had succesfully managed to isolate the Covid-19 virus (SARS-CoV-2) and by doing so, the ICMR-RMRC had become the third government laboratory and fourth in the country to achieve the feat.
“In the last ten days, we have screened over 110 samples in our lab, but not a single Delta Plus variant has been found. We are only getting Delta variants and a few cases of Kappa variants. The Delta Plus variant is very localised in the country and less than 50 cases have been detected. In some states like Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and even Jammu & Kashmir, Delta Plus cases have been found. In February and March, the Alpha variant was in circulation in Assam. Then from April, it was the Delta and Kappa variants,” Dr Borkakoty said.
Dr Borkakoty further added that there was a need for vaccine companies to come up with new vaccines to tackle the new variants of Covid-19. “There is a need to change the vaccines. The vaccines were developed last year when the strains were different. The companies making the vaccines should immediately change their policies and develop vaccines that will work better against the Alpha, Kappa and Delta variants,” he said.
