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As Maha gears up to fight Delta Plus, experts say 'focus on routine tasks'
Updated On: 27 June, 2021 09:15 AM IST | Mumbai | Jane Borges
Even as Maharashtra gets into fight mode with 21 cases of the new Delta Plus variant found, experts say let’s focus on ramping up testing, genomic surveillance, contact tracing and vaccination
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Additional BMC commissioner Suresh Kakani says Mumbai saw one Delta Plus case in the eastern suburbs in April. Sixteen close contacts of the female patient were traced. Pic/Suresh Karkera
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.
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