New mutated coronavirus strain a 'Super-Spreader': Centre

There is no need to panic over the mutated variant of SARSCoV2 detected in the UK the government said on Tuesday asserting that no such variant or any significant mutation in the coronavirus strain has been seen in India yetNITI Aayog member health Dr V K Paul during a press briefing also said the mutated SARSCoV2 strain detected in the UK will have no impact on the potential of emerging vaccines which are being developed in India and other countriesAs of now based on our discussions deep understanding of data available and our deep assessment there is no need to panic but it is a cause to be more vigilant he saidPaul said that this new challenge we have to counter with our comprehensive efforts We will be safe if we suppress the genomic sequence he saidThere is no change in the treatment guidelines so far due to this mutation and the vaccines that are being developed particularly those in the country will not be impacted Paul saidThis variant of the virus in the UK is defined by a set of 17 changes or mutations he said and added that its tendency to enter the bodys cells has become higher and transmissibility has also increased with mutationIt is also being said that in these viruses the transmissibility has increased by 70 per cent you can also call them super spreader in a way This virus increases infectiousness but does not increase propensity for death or hospitalisation or severity of the disease What is affected is the tendency to affect more people that by itself is a cause of concern It is an adverse development he saidPaul said that there is no need to panic and added that we are yet to spot such a virus in our country and for which there are intensive efforts in the offingAccording to data available with us we have not detected such mutation in Indian samples and the ones we have detected are insignificant he saidHowever since mutation in SARSCoV2 has been reported in the UK the government has taken a number of decisions Paul saidPassengers who have returned from the UK will be contacted their clinical issues will be understood and tests will be conducted with specimen subject to genetic sequencing he saidIn addition he said that temporary travel restrictions have been imposed to and from the UKIn an important step all the recent samples of the virus that we have received in our designated laboratories have been prioritised for genetic sequencing from yesterday and the ICMR Indian Council of Medical Research and the DBT Department of Biotechnology are all involved in it and it is being done in a comprehensive manner Paul saidHe urged people to remain vigilant and follow Covid19 appropriate behaviour like wearing masks and maintaining social distancing to save the gains that the country has achieved in the fight against the Covid19 pandemic till nowTo a query on the steps taken by the government with regard to people who returned from the UK in the past few days Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan said thousands of genome sequences have been done during the pandemicHe said that also the Bureau of Immigration will share the names of people who had arrived from the UK or had travelled through the UK between November 25 and December 23 with states and union territories UTsThe State Surveillance Officer will contact conduct tests and take action as per results Bhushan saidThe Union Health Ministry on Tuesday also issued standard operating protocols for epidemiological surveillance These include activities to be undertaken at the point of entry and in the community for all international passengers who have travelled to or through the UK in the past four weeks from November 25 to December 23Over the likelihood of a vaccine becoming available in January and the status of the applications by Pfizer Serum Institute of India and Bharat Biotech seeking emergency authorisation of their Covid19 vaccines Paul said the three applications are pending with the Drugs Controller General of India DCGIPfizer he said has not submitted data yet while more data has been sought from the other firms One of the companies has provided new data Paul saidData is being examined But this process is sacrosanct driven by scientific norms procedures and lets see where it takes us Once there is a decision by the drug regulator and the scientific groups that help take the decision we will move forward he saidPointing out that countries like the US Brazil the UK Russia and Germany are showing new peaks in Covid cases Bhushan said In comparison Indias trajectory has shown a sustained decline in Covid19 cases since midSeptemberldquoIndia has reported 124 Covid19 cases per million population in the last seven days as against the global figure of 588 India has reported two Covid19 deaths per million population in the last seven days as against the global figure of 10 deaths he saidThe average daily new cases have also shown a continuous decline from 46301 during the first week of November to 24135 this week The average daily deaths have also come down from 556 during the first week of November to 343 this week he saidBhushan said that 26 states and UTs have less than 10000 active cases of Covid19Sixtyone per cent of Covid19 deaths reported in a span of 24 hours were from Maharashtra West Bengal Kerala Delhi Chhattisgarh Uttar Pradesh he saidWhile 57 per cent cases reported during the same period were from Kerala Maharashtra West Bengal Chhattisgarh Tamil Nadu Madhya Pradesh the health secretary saidKeep scrolling to read more newsCatch up on all the latestCrime National International and Hatke newshereAlso download the new middayAndroidandiOSapps to get latest updatesMidDay is now on Telegram Click here to join our channel middayinfomedialtd and stay updated with the latest newsThis 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