Bhubaneswar: Odisha reported Friday its first case of the Covid-19 Delta plus variant in Deogarh district. This new development came a day after Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik urged people not to lower their guard against Covid-19.
The National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) informed the Odisha government about the detection of the Delta plus variant. This information was given by Directorate of Medical Education and Training (DMET) Chief Professor, CBK Mohanty.
The Delta Plus variant, also described as the ‘variant of concern’, spreads more easily. “We will undertake contract tracing and keep the patient isolated to prevent the infection from spreading,” Mohanty said.
Mohanty informed that the state administration will apply its time-tested Covid-19 management formula of testing, treatment and vaccination also for Delta Plus variant. He also said that both Covaxin and Covishield are quite effective also against this variant.
The DMET chief, however, said that the travel history of the patient is yet to be ascertained. “The person must have come in contact with some other patient carrying the Delta plus variant,” he said.
Health expert Dr Srikant Dhar echoed Professor Mohanty. He said that although the variant is considered dangerous, the existing vaccines are effective against it. Health experts however, are quite surprised that the Delta plus variant case was detected in remote Deogarh district. The district has witnessed a drastic dip in fresh Covid-19 cases.
The western Odisha district reported only four fresh infections Friday and has 106 active cases. It has registered 32 coronavirus fatalities to date, a number better than many other districts.
Incidentally Odisha’s lone Delta plus variant case is among the 48 such cases detected in India from the 45,000 samples sequenced so far.
States that have reported a high number of Delta Plus variant cases are Maharashtra (20), Tamil Nadu (nine) and Madhya Pradesh (seven).