Only one strain of Covid-19 variant found in India is now of concern: WHO

The World Health Organisation WHO has said only B16172 one of the three strains of the B1617 Covid19 variant first detected in India is a ldquovariant of concernrdquo now and noted that lower rates of transmission have been observed for the other two lineagesThe B1617 variant was first detected in India and was divided in three lineages B16171 B16172 and B16173In the Covid19 Weekly Epidemiological Update published on Tuesday WHO said available findings for lineages B16171 and B16172 were initially used to designate B1617 a global Variant of Concern VOC on May 11 this yearldquoSince then it has become evident that greater public health risks are currently associated with B16172 while lower rates of transmission of other lineages have been observedrdquo WHO saidThe UN health agency said that in order to reflect this updated information B1617 has been ldquodelineatedrdquoldquoB16172 remains a VOC and labelled variant Delta ndash we continue to observe significantly increased transmissibility and a growing number of countries reporting outbreaks associated with this variant Further studies into the impact of this variant remain a high priority for WHOrdquoThe Delta variant has now been reported in 62 countries around the world as of June 1 the update saidIt added that the B16171 strain has been reclassified to a Variant of Interest VOI and labelled variant ldquoKappardquo While Kappa is also demonstrating increased transmissibility in specified locations ldquoglobal prevalence appears to be declining This variant will continue to be monitored and reassessed regularlyrdquoThe B16173 lineage is no longer classified as either a VOI or VOC ndash relatively few reports of this variant have been submitted to daterdquoOn Monday the WHO announced the new naming system for key Covid19 variants and the labels are based on the Greek alphabet ie Alpha Beta Gamma etc ldquomaking them simple easy to say and rememberrdquoldquoThe labels do not replace existing scientific names which convey important scientific information amp will continue to be used in research The naming system aims to prevent calling COVID19 variants by the places where they are detected which is stigmatising amp discriminatoryrdquo WHO said in a tweetWHO said that as the global public health risks posed by specific Covid19 variants becomes better understood and evolves it will continue to update the list of global VOIs and VOCsldquoThis is necessary to adjust to the emergence of new variants their changing epidemiology eg the incidence of some variants is rapidly declining and our understanding of their phenotypic impacts as new evidence becomes available and is sharedrdquoVariants no longer classified as VOCs or VOIs will continue to be monitored as part of the overall evolution of SARSCoV2 and may be reassessed pending new evidence indicating an increased public health risk WHO saidThe update further said that India reported the highest numbers of new Covid19 cases in the past week at 1364668 a 26 per cent decrease compared to the previous week Other countries reporting the highest numbers of new cases are Brazil 420981 new cases 7 per cent decrease Argentina 219910 new cases 3 per cent increase the United States of America 153587 new cases 18 per cent decrease and Colombia 150517 new cases 40 per cent increaseThe SouthEast Asia Region reported over 15 million new cases and over 29000 new deaths a 24 per cent and an 8 per cent decrease respectively compared to the previous weekldquoCase incidence continued to follow a sharp decline for a third consecutive week and death incidence decreased for the first time since early March 2021 primarily driven by trends reported in Indiardquo the update saidIn the SouthEast Asia Region the highest numbers of new deaths were reported from India 26706 new deaths 19 new deaths per 100000 an 8 per cent decrease Indonesia 1057 new deaths 04 new deaths per 100000 a 15 per cent decrease and Nepal 1010 new deaths 35 new deaths per 100000 a 22 per cent decreaseGlobally the number of new Covid19 cases and deaths continues to decrease with over 35 million new cases and 78000 new deaths reported globally in the past week a 15 per cent and 7 per cent decrease respectively compared to the previous week the update saidThe European and SouthEast Asia Regions reported the largest decline in new cases and deaths in the past week while case incidence increased in the African and Western Pacific regions ldquoAlthough the number of global cases and deaths continued to decrease for a fifth and fourth consecutive week respectively case and death incidences remain at high levels and significant increases have been reported in many countries in all regionsrdquo the WHO update saidThis 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