Delta plus variant not yet classified as Variant of Concern: Niti Aayog's Paul

In the context of public discourse regarding detection of new variants NITI Aayog Member Health VK Paul has reminded that the newly detected Delta Plus variant is not yet classified as a Variant of Concern VOCThe variant was observed in Europe in March and has been notified and brought into public domain on June 13 this monthAs Delta Plus is not yet classified as a VOC Paul said the way forward is to watch the potential presence of Delta Plus in the country and take the appropriate public health responseThe present status is that yes a new variant has been found This is as of now a Variant of Interest VoI not as yet classified a VoC Paul clarified it in a Covid19 media briefingThe VOC is one in which we have understood that there are adverse consequences to humanity which could be due to increased transmissibility or virulence said Paul adding We do not know at this moment about the Delta Plus variantPaul stressed on the need to watch the effect the variant in a scientific manner as it has been found outside our countryWe need to monitor it through The Indian SARSCoV2 Consortium on Genomics INSACOG in order to assess and detect its potential presence and growth in our country This is the way forward in relation to the virus said PaulHe also mentioned that this will be an important area of future work for our comprehensive system of almost 28 laboratories and that the system will constantly watch this and study its significanceThis is something which science should and will watch and understandThe NITI Aayog Member said that this variant is a reminder to us about the importance of infection control and containment measures and behaviourRemember that there is no way that we can shoot these variants away to use any precision weapon to ensure that they dont appear in future What we need to do is to monitor understand their behaviour and mount an appropriate response being conscious of their effects on us The appropriate response includes the same principles namely containment measures and Covid19 appropriate behaviourHe spoke of the importance of addressing the root cause and breaking the chain of transmission One of the important tools to tackle any new variant is by following Covid19 Appropriate BehaviourThe root cause is the chain of transmission Paul said adding so if we are able to address the root cause and break the chains of transmission we will be able to contain the spread whichever the variant may beExplaining the origin of Delta Plus variant Paul said During the second wave Delta variant B16172 exhibited its effect and its higher transmissibility played a major role in making the wave intenseAlong the same line he said an additional mutation has been detected which has also been submitted to the Global Data System This has been referred to as the Delta Plus or AY1 variantThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever