The Indian government is concerned about the “Delta Plus” variant…

The new delta mutation is a change in a spiky protein of the virus, which is supposed to make it particularly infectious.

The Indian Ministry of Health is concerned about the so-called “Delta Plus” variant and wants to investigate it more intensively. The variant is said to be particularly contagious and bind more strongly to lung cells, according to a letter from the Ministry of Health in New Delhi. Scientists say, however, that there is still little data.

The variant, also known as B.1.617.2.1 or AY.1, is a delta variant with an additional spike mutation K417N, which also occurred in the beta variant initially discovered in South Africa.

Cases in nine other countries as well

And the Minister of Health announced, on Wednesday, that about 40 cases of “Delta Plus” were recorded in three Indian states, and other cases in nine other countries. The United States of America, China, Russia, as well as Switzerland, Poland, Portugal and Great Britain are named.

Previously, the Indian government had been criticized for its hindsight of recognizing the danger of the original delta variant, which was first detected in India and linked to the country’s violent second wave in April and May. Meanwhile, official coronavirus case numbers have fallen dramatically again.

The World Health Organization is currently tracking “Delta Plus” as part of the Delta variant. This variant does not appear to be widespread yet.

(APA/DSPA)