Delta Plus version searched in 9 countries; UK, US, Japan, China on the list

Even as the nations rush to vaccinate large chunks of the population as they race against coronavirus, a replacement variant of the virus called Delta plus has come under the worldwide watch. whilst they kept their guard up against the highly transmissible Delta variant, first found in India, a minimum of nine countries have started reporting cases of mutated Delta plus variant strain.

The Delta plus variant is additionally called B.1.617.2.1 or AY.1 strain. Out of the small print emerging about the Delta Plus variant, the foremost noticeable one is that the incontrovertible fact that the new strain is immune to the monoclonal antibodies cocktail.

India on Tuesday said it's a minimum of 22 cases of the Delta plus variant, which the govt has classified as a variant of interest thus far . The strain from which it's mutated from Delta has been listed as a variant of concern by the planet Health Organization (WHO).

The Delta Plus variant of the Covid-19 variant is found in nine countries, including India which has reported 22 cases, the central government said on Tuesday.

These countries include the us , the uk , Portugal, Switzerland, Japan, Poland, Nepal, China and Russia.

Delta variant, officials said is found in 80 nations, including India

"In India, 16 of the 22 cases of Delta Plus variant are found in Ratnagiri and Jalgaon (Maharashtra) and a few cases in Kerala and Madhya Pradesh", Rajesh Bhushan, Union health secretary said.

As many as 21 cases of the Delta Plus Covid variant, the mutant version of the Delta variant are found in Maharashtra, health minister Rajesh Tope informed on Monday. Tope further informed that of the 21 cases, nine were reported from Jalgaon in Ratnagiri, seven were from Mumbai and one each from Palghar, Sindhudurg and Thane.

The Delta variant is taken into account to possess driven the deadly second wave in India where the country witnessed a crisis with daily cases being clocked at quite 400,000, crematoriums running out of space and wood to cremate bodies and collapse of health infrastructure across states.

Officials added that the severity and transmissibility of the Delta plus variant aren't known yet.

"This may be a variant of interest that has not yet been classified as a variant of concern. A variant of concern is during which we've understood that there are adverse consequences to humanity by a rise in transmissibility and severity. this is often not known yet about the Delta plus variant," VK Paul, NITI Aayog Member (Health) said.