It was nagging suspicion which compelled Mrunmai Joshi, district collector and magistrate, Palakkad, Kerala, to send a sample for genome testing last month. Somewhere around the end of April this year, the villages of Parali and Pirayiri, which fall under her jurisdiction, saw an “intense rise” in Coronavirus cases. After one person had contracted the virus, there seemed to be, what she describes a “chain reaction,” with entire clusters getting infected. It was a cue for her team to begin work on war footing. “All the primary contacts of the infected individuals were traced, and isolated. Over time, everyone turned negative. But, these panchayats continued to be on our radar.”

Last week, when the results of the genome surveillance came back, Joshi’s hunch proved to be correct. Of the three reported cases of the new COVID-19 Delta Plus variant, two were from these villages.