Mumbai Has 128 Cases Of Delta Variant Of COVID-19, BMC Finds
Mumbai: Genomic surveillance by the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation identified 128 cases of COVID-19 caused by the Delta variant in Mumbai.
The figures emerged from the tests conducted on the first batch of 188 samples at BMC’s Kasturba Hospital. Of the 188 samples, 128 are Delta variants, two are Alpha variants and 24 are Kappa variants, the remaining 34 are non-significant/local variants
The delta and kappa variants come from the original lineage – the B1.617, or double mutant, which was first detected from samples in Vidarbha and thought to be the main cause of the second wave of infections in India.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the delta variant has been found in at least 111 countries. The kappa variant is one of two covid variants – the other being delta. According to WHO, the kappa variant was first identified in India in October 2020. The alpha version was first discovered in the UK, has been reported from 178 countries, and has the largest footprint.
On 4 August, Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray inaugurated the city’s first genome sequencing laboratory at Kasturba Hospital. The citizens-run Kasturba Gandhi Hospital on Friday began genome sequencing, making it the first citizen-run healthcare facility in the state to do so. The lab can test 384 samples in a single round.
Till now, Maharashtra relied on the Indian SARS-CoV-2 Genomic Consortia, or INSACOG, a network of 10 laboratories set up by the Union health ministry in December for genome sequencing.
Maharashtra signed an MoU with the Scientific and Industrial Research Institute of Genomics and Integrative Biology for genome sequencing of around 3,600 COVID-19 samples per person, in addition to the 10 laboratories identified by the Center to perform genome sequencing for all states.
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