What the center says As the number of COVID19 cases in the country declines, the new strain of the Delta variant, also known as the Delta Plus variant, has been discovered in many parts of the country and has become a major source of concern for health officials and the government. Since several states are lifting their border restrictions and relaxing their blocking guidelines, the new variant only opens up the possibility of a third wave of COVID. Experts say that the new Delta variant plus or the variant AY.1 is characterized by the acquisition of the K417N mutation. It’s a mutation of the Delta variant that fueled India’s second wave of coronavirus.
This is why the Delta Plus variant is technically called B.617.1 or AY.In a tweet, Vinod Scaria, doctor and scientist at the Institute of Genomics and Integrative Biology (IGIB) at CSIR Delhi, said: “The mutation is in the spike protein of SARSCOV2, which helps the virus enter and infect human cells in Europe in March of this year, but opened to the public on June 13th. In India, the government has officially declared that the Delta Plus variant of the coronavirus is a “variant of concern” (VoC), which means that it is more easily transmitted, stronger binding to lung cell receptors and a possible reduction in monoclonal antibody response. India is currently one of nine countries where the Delta Plus variant has been detected. USA, UK, Portugal, Switzerland, Japan, Poland, Nepal, China and Russia.
