COVID VARIANT, B1617 OUTBREAK IN INDIA.

New Delhi: The direst condition in India continues to prevail. With the record of staggering 3,689 death cases, the total caseloads rose to 1.95 Crore. Nonetheless, the inadequacy of basic supplies has not been fixed yet by the Government and the system.

Whilst this scenario is continuing to play out in the entire country, the experts have shown their worry about the new COVID 19 variant,  B. 1. 617, which was identified in India for the first time. Some of the outbreak is believed to be driven by this new variant. Some Important facts to learn about this:

What is this new B.1.617 Variant?

The new variant, called B.1.617, was initially detected in Maharashtra, India with two mutations – the E484Q and L452R. It was first reported late last year by a scientist in India.

As per the assessment by scientists from Scripps Research, the variant first found in Britain, B.1.1.7, accounting for 13 percent of the samples, is the second most prevalent. The report said, out of 13,614 Whole Genome Sequencing (WGS) samples processed in labs, 1,189 samples tested positive for variants of concern for SARS COV-2 in India. This included 1,109 samples with the variant first found in Britain, 79 samples with variant first found in South African, and one sample with the variant first found in Brazil, the report said.

The double mutation has been also found in several countries like Australia, Belgium, Germany, Ireland, Namibia, New Zealand, Singapore, the U.K., and the U.S.

How is it going to impact the body of human beings?

The Canadian health experts have considered this B.1.617 as a kind of Frankenstein, made of mutation to spike protein found in other variants of concern. One mutation of it which was initially found in California gives the spike a better ability to bind to and infect our cells. The second of this mutation, which was also found in  Brazil and South Africa, is said to be believed to be highly resistant to antibodies and highly transmissible.

The public health officials of Canada say, "  In the current scenario, this variant is observed as less responsive to the currently available Vaccines. These variants should be treated as the variants of concern. As in some cases, it has demonstrated the ability to be easily transmitted and cause more infectious diseases. " ( Source: CBC News)

In the surge of this new threat, how India is going to respond, needs to be brood upon. Well, many states have already announced the 15 days lockdown in order to break the chain of this community spread. But how this is going to impact the lives of the commons, that will be described in coming times.