Worrisome! Three UK strains of COVID-19 detected in Odisha

Bhubaneswar: In what could be ringing alarm bells for the Odisha Government, the National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) today revealed that as many as three UK strains of COVID-19, which are highly infectious than the original one, have been detected in the state.

NCDC Director SK Singh told media that 771 variants of concerns (VOCs) of COVID-19, including a new double mutant variant, have been detected in a total of 10,787 positive samples shared by the states and union territories. The samples with these VOCs have been identified in 18 states of the country.

These include 736 samples positive for viruses of the UK (B.1.1.7) lineage. 34 samples of the South African (B.1.351) lineage, and 1 sample of the Brazilian (P.1) lineage.

Though VOCs and a new double mutant variant have been found in India, these have not been detected in numbers sufficient to either establish or direct relationship or explain the rapid increase in cases in some States. Genomic sequencing and epidemiological studies are continuing to further analyze the situation.