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When can the peak of third wave of Covid19 arrive in India?

Covid19 virus.

A scientist in a government panel has stated that the third wave of Covid19 can strike somewhere near October. The scientist, Prof Manindra Agrawal also predicted that the third wave can hit a peak in the time-frame of October-November.

The panel has been tasked with modelling the cases of Covid19 in India. Prof. Agrawal is working on the Sutra Model, which is a mathematical projection of the Covid19 trajectory. The panel is working on prediction of the behaviour of the virus. He said that the third wave will see half the daily cases seen during the second surge.

Last year, Department of science and technology had formed the panel to forecast the surge in Coronavirus cases using mathematical models.

Other members of the panel are M Vidyasagar, a scientist from IIT-Hyderabad, and Lt General Madhuri Kanitkar, Deputy Chief (medical) of Integrated defence staff.

Prof. Agrawal, however, cautioned that emergence of a new strain can fasten the spread during the third wave.

Also See: Are Covid vaccines magnetic? Facts you should know related to coronavirus

In one of his tweets, Prof Agrawal highlighted that the panel has mapped out three scenarios-optimistic, intermediate and pessimistic. The optimistic scenario is that the life gets back to normal by August and there is no emergence of new strain. The intermediate scenario is that vaccination is 20% less effective in addition to the optimistic scenario’s assumptions. The pessimistic scenario includes that there is an emergence of a 25% more infectious strain in August. He highlighted that the mutant strain he was referring to, is not delta+ (which is not more infectious than delta).

Also See: New mutants of Coronavirus

In a statement, Prof. Agrawal posted the bottomline, “If there is no significantly faster spreading mutant, third wave will be a ripple. And if there is such a mutant, the third wave will be comparable to the first one. However, if there is an immunity-escaped mutant, all of the above scenarios will be invalid!”

The panel was in the centre of a debate- storm when it failed to predict the second wave of Covid19 that ravaged through the country in April and May.

Also Read: Pre-print study of hospitalisations points out 40% increase in mortality of Covid19 patients

Sutra model

Sutra stands for Suspected, undetected, tested(positive) and Removed Approach. This approach was taken by the National Covid19 supermodel committee. In October 2020, it had caught public attention when it informed that India had crossed the Covid19 peak. The prediction of the committee on the second wave failed that led to huge Oxygen crisis, and discovery of deadbodies in rivers in UP. The committee had accepted that it had failed to predict the nature of the second wave of Covid19. Rapid changes or mutations in the virus were attributed as a reason of failure of prediction of the second wave.

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Health ministry approved vaccination of pregnant women against Covid19-accepts recommendation of NTAGI

Covid Vaccination Centre

On Friday, the Union health ministry approved the vaccination of pregnant women against Covid19. The Ministry said that pregnant women may now register on CoWIN or walk-in to the nearest Covid Vaccination Centre (CVC) to get themselves vaccinated.

Union Health Ministry on Friday accepted the recommendations of the National Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation (NTAGI) and subsequently gave the approval.

Health Ministry further stated, “The operational Guideline for vaccinating pregnant women, Counselling Kit for Medical Officers and FLWs, and IEC material for the public has been shared with States/UTs for its implementation.”

Earlier, Indian Council for Medical Research (ICMR) Director-General Dr Balram Bhargava had said that Covid-19 vaccine should be given to pregnant women as it is useful for them.

Luv Aggarwal, a Joint Secretary in Health Ministry, said, “We have noted a decline of 13% in Covid19 cases as compared to the last week. On average, we are reporting 46,000 cases (daily) in the country.”

In a parallel development, on Friday, official data showed that India became the third country to breach the mark of 400,000 Covid-19 deaths, as the country’s vast vaccination drive slows.

According to the health ministry, total deaths are at 400,312, behind only the United States and Brazil with total cases at almost 30.5 million.

Also See: Are Covid vaccines magnetic? Facts you should know related to coronavirus

Many experts suspect that India’s true death toll is more than a million, after a devastating spike in cases during the second wave in April and May that overwhelmed hospitals.

The surge was blamed on the emergence of the Delta variant. It was also attributed to government complacency after Prime Minister Narendra Modi declared victory over the virus in January.

Daily case numbers have since decreased significantly. Many restrictions on activity have been lifted. These have raised fears of a new spike in coming months.

The centre aims to vaccinate all of the country’s 1.1 billion adults by this year’s end. Due to vaccine-shortages, administrative confusion and hesitancy, only around five percent of 1.1 billion have had two doses so far.

On June 21 the government tried to jumpstart the drive by making vaccines free for all adults. That led to a surge in demand with more than nine million shots being given in a day.

Daily inoculation rates have since slowed again. According to government figures, the daily inoculation rate is averaging just over four million per day over the past week.

A government has filed an affidavit with the Supreme Court this week. As per media reports, the affidavit slashed the number of doses the government expects to be available between August and December to 1.35 billion, from a previous projection of 2.16 billion.

It has also been reported that the centre’s filing mentioned five kinds of vaccine, down from eight in its forecast in May. The filing has also cut the number of predicted AstraZeneca doses to 500 million from 750 million previously.

Also Read: Pre-print study of hospitalisations points out 40% increase in mortality of Covid19 patients

On Tuesday, India approved the Moderna vaccine for domestic use. This approval took to four the number of vaccines available along with AstraZeneca, Bharat Biotech’s Covaxin and Russia’s Sputnik V.

On the approval, NITI Aayog member (Health) Dr VK Paul said, “There are four vaccines now Covaxin, Covishield, SputnikV and Moderna. We will soon close the deal on Pfizer as well.”

On Thursday, Indian drug-maker Zydus Cadila said that it had applied for approval for its plasmid DNA-based vaccine after trials showed an efficacy rate of 67 percent.

Zydus Cadila’s chief is Sharvil Patel. He told a news conference that the firm hoped to produce 50 million doses by the end of the year with monthly output of 10 million.

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UP and Punjab can pose a challenge for election commission in 2022

Election in India

Early next year, three states, Uttar Pradesh, Punjab and Uttarakhand, are due to hold elections. In this regard, Election Commission of India has a major challenge. It has to conduct elections in the midst of a pandemic and a possible third wave. Preparations for UP election 2022 have begun among the parties. Preparations like alliance building have begun for Punjab elections as well.

Also Read: Akali dal-BSP alliance chalked up for upcoming Punjab election

The Election Commission needs to start its planning and preparations now.  A repeat of its mistakes during the West Bengal election cannot be afforded now. The election event in West Bengal turned out to be a super-spreader event in the way it was conducted. The election officials, the central forces were allegedly not following the Covid-apt behaviour. Additionally, rallies were conducted tossing away social distancing norms.

Currently, UP has a low vaccination rate. And, it is forecast to be one of the most likely Covid hotspots in India. It may also perhaps be heading for a massive third wave.

There are 200+ million people in UP. Out of them, only 2 percent have so far had both doses of the vaccine. It is a near-impossible task to vaccinate even half of the remaining 98 percent of UP’s population before the elections.

Punjab is ranked as the 6th worst state of India by vaccination rate. It is not far behind UP.

These two states lag behind their target vaccine rates. A closer look into the data makes it clear that we are heading towards a Covid-crisis. The UP vaccination rate is 66 percent below target while Punjab is 47 percent below target. If the poll body does not take precautions, UP and Punjab can lead to super-spreaders causing a huge third wave of Covid19.

Also Read: A peek into by-polls in India-Can there be a way around them?

What election commission can do?

The election commission should not allow large or crowded rallies, which can trigger super-spreading events. That can actualise the fears of a massive third wave of Covid19 where tens of thousands may die.

The poll body may instead allow for street-corner meetings with under 50 people. Following of social distancing and wearing of masks should be made compulsory for such meetings. Courts may coordinate with the poll body to monitor such meetings and rallies with drones. The poll body must penalize any candidate who violates the 50 people limit. This directive must be announced in advance.

Television can be used by the parties to reach out to the voters. Election commission, courts and TRAI can map out a modality where each party can be designated a time-slot where they can place their candidates & manifestos prior to the election. Such a channel can be mandated to be made as a primary channel in any DTH input. And ultimately, the number of counting stations can be increased to address the requirement of social distancing on the day of vote counting and declaration of election result.

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PM’s tears cannot wipe off tears of the Covid19 victims, said Rahul Gandhi

Rahul gandhi1

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi castigated the centre over the lack of Oxygen and the deaths due to Covid19 in the second wave. He also released a white paper as a measure of suggestion to the central government.

On Tuesday, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said that 90% of Covid-19 deaths in the second wave were “needless” because the patients could have been saved if oxygen or drugs were available. He demanded a commission to look into “what went wrong” in the central government’s strategy. He further emphasised that a Covid-19 compensation fund must be created to help families who lost their bread-earners.

 Also Read: What’s the rumpus between Punjab Congress and Navjot Singh Sidhu

Rahul Gandhi released a white paper on Covid-19. This paper was prepared by the Congress’ research department. He also said that “vaccination should be done on war footing”, because inoculating 60% or 70% of the population is not sufficient.

Gandhi said, “There are two types of Covid-19 deaths. Deaths that are needless in the sense those could have been saved. The other type of death is when there is high comorbidity. In the second wave, 90% deaths were needless because oxygen was not available.”

Gandhi further added, “The PM’s tears cannot wipe off the tears of the victims. People know that oxygen could have saved their near and dear ones. But the PM did not take the issue seriously. He had to fight elections.”

 Also See: New mutants of Coronavirus

The modified vaccination rules were withdrawn in favour of a centralised vaccination campaign, in which the government administered free vaccine to all. Following this, on Monday, India administered over 8 million vaccine doses.

Rahul Gandhi maintained that “good work has happened yesterday (Monday)”. But, he cautioned that vaccination has to be a process and not “a series of events”. Congress chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala added an important point of comparison with the UPA-2 regime. Surjewala said that during former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s regime, 120 million children were administered pulse polio vaccine on a single day in 2012.

Centre pleaded in the Supreme Court that it does not have money to compensate for Covid-19 deaths. Reacting to this plea, Rahul Gandhi said that the government must announce a compensation package for the poor.

Gandhi said, “The Centre is making ₹4 lakh crore through cess on petrol and diesel. It has taken money from the people. They can give any name they want but a compensation plan is required.” An economic assistance process is also a significant part of the white paper published on Tuesday.

Also Read: Congress leader wrote another letter to Modi-worrisome trend of Mucormycosis in post-Covid cases

Rahul Gandhi said that aim of the white paper is to provide the government with suggestions so that it can be ready when the third wave of the pandemic comes. He said, “The government should not repeat the mistakes it did in the first and second waves. It should be ready with infrastructure to tackle the third wave.”

 

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The Flying Sikh departed for a better world; runners honour him with a marathon

Milkha Singh

Four time Asian games gold medallist Milkha Singh passed away due to post-Covid19 complications at the PGIMER hospital in Chandigarh on Friday. Couple of days earlier he was shifted out of the Covid19-ICU and had returned Covid19-negative. The news arrived as the family was battling the loss of Milkha Singh’s wife, Nirmal Kaur, who died due to Covid19 related complications at a private hospital in Mohali on June 13, Sunday. The legendary athlete, who had represented India at several world-level competitions including the Olympics, lost a valiant battle after developing fever and a dip in Oxygen saturation level from Thursday night in the medical ICU of the PGI Chandigarh.

He had become a sports legend in India after surviving the horrors of the partition and living his early life in India doing odd jobs. Joining Indian army gave him tremendous strength and boosted him to the national scene of sports. Milkha Singh attributed his passion for fitness and discipline to his days in Indian army, which chiselled the sportsman in him. The 1958 Commonwealth games 440 yard gold medal was very close to Milkha Singh’s heart. Another personal favourite win for Milkha Singh was the Helms trophy.

Whenever Milkha Singh was asked to reflect on his life, he would say, “Life has given me more than what I deserved.” He was renowned by the name of the flying Sikh.

The title of the Flying Sikh was placed on him in the year 1960. Ayub Khan, had invited Indian athletes for an Indo-Pak sports meet in Lahore. Milkha Singh had earlier refused to go back to Pakistan, which held some very brutal, terrible and painful memories of partition for him. But, he accepted the offer to be the leader of the Indian contingent on the insistence of the then Indian Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru. In Lahore, Milkha Singh was to face off against Pakistan’s Abdul Khaliq. In the 200m sprint, Khaliq was considered to be one of the world’s fastest. Khaliq and Milkha had earlier run a race in 1958 which was won by Milkha Singh in the last split second. But, at that point of time, Milkha Singh was dealing with the recent Olympic loss. Tension was palpable as both runners had eyes of their countrymen fixed upon them. But, Milkha Singh came out with flying colours and snatched the race from Khaliq. During the medal ceremony a thoroughly impressed and mesmerised Ayub Khan, nicknamed Milkha Singh as the Flying Sikh.

In Ichalkaranji in Kolhapur district of Maharashtra, over 400 runners ran collectively in excess of 3000 km to honour the legend of the flying Sikh. The group had initially planned to complete 1,920 km, the distance between Ichalkaranji and Mohali but ran a collective total of 3,018 km in two days.

Milkha Singh, the legendary flying Sikh is survived by 14-time international winner and golfer son Jeev Milkha Singh, daughters Mona Singh, Sonia Singh and Aleeza Grover.

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With 2400% surge in Covid19 cases, crisis looms over Afghanistan

Covid19_Kabul

On Thursday, the International Committee of the Red Cross said that Afghanistan is at a “crisis point” in terms of surge of Covid19 cases. The country has reported a 2,400% surge in coronavirus disease (Covid-19) cases in the past month. Afghanistan is witnessing its worst Covid-19 wave since the start of the pandemic. The curve of total active infection cases and related deaths in Afghanistan is showing an exponential rise. More than a third of Covid-19 tests last week came back positive, said ICRC.

In a statement released by the ICRC, Nilab Mobarez, acting president of the Afghan Red Crescent Society, said, “Afghanistan is at a crisis point in the battle to contain Covid-19 as hospital beds are full to capacity in the capital Kabul and in many areas.”

Also See: Are Covid vaccines magnetic? Facts you should know related to coronavirus

Afghanistan’s health infrastructure has already been strained due to decades of war and violence. The pressure on it due to the latest surge in Covid19 cases has risen in recent months with the gradual withdrawal of US troops. Mobarez warned that the Covid19 surge is rapidly spiralling out of control. The surge, Mobarez stated, is adding huge pressures on the country’s fragile health system with millions of people living in poverty.

She added, “We fear that we are just a heartbeat away from the kind of horror that we have already seen in countries like India and Nepal.”

Also Read: The plausible link between Abraham accords and the Afghanistan peace process

On Thursday, Afghan health authorities registered 2,313 new Covid-19 cases and a record 101 deaths from the infection in the last 24 hours (as reported on Thursday). Officials and experts have said that low testing means those official figures are probably a dramatic undercount. Additionally, Afghanistan is also dealing with a vaccine shortfall exacerbated by a high level of hesitancy. Less than 0.5% of the Afghan-population has been fully vaccinated against Covid-19.

Also See: New mutants of Coronavirus

Necephor Mghend is the head of Afghanistan country delegation for the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC). In a statement, he said, “Covid-19 is another cruel blow for millions of Afghans already dealing with the constant threat of violence, displacement, food insecurity and poverty. We are seeing large numbers of people having to make terrible choices between finding a way to feed their families and growing risks of getting sick.”

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As Covid19 curbs ease out, Taj Mahal reopened

Taj-Mahal-Agra-India

As India continues to reel under a calamitous second wave of Covid19, the Taj Mahal was reopened to the public on Wednesday. Various states in India are pushing to lift restrictions in a bid to revitalise its economy which has been decimated under an unprecedented contraction level of (-)7.3%.

The world famous Taj Mahal is a 17th-century white marble mausoleum, built by Mughal emperor Shah Jahan in the northern city of Agra. It was closed in early April as India introduced strict lockdown measures in an effort to contain a surge in Covid-19 infections that is still killing thousands every day.

Also See: Are covid vaccines magnetic? Facts you should know related to coronavirus

District authorities in Agra stated that only 650 tourists will be allowed inside the premises of the Taj Mahal at any time. In normal times, the monument generally attracts 7 million to 8 million visitors annually, or over 20,000 people per day.

Uttar Pradesh, where Agra is located, reported 270 new infections of Covid19 overnight and 56 deaths. In terms of total Covid-19 cases, UP is among India’s hardest-hit states. Depressing images and videos of dead bodies floating in the Ganges and bodies rotting at the banks brought infamous attention to UP in terms of alleged mismanaged response to Covid19.

Also See: New mutants of Coronavirus

Other nationally protected monuments in India include New Delhi’s Red Fort and Qutub Minar. They were also reopened to tourists on Wednesday. The monuments were reopened even as alarm bells ring in the country over a resurgence of crowds in major cities that threatens to fuel another spike in infections.

Significance of Taj Mahal

Taj mahal is nothing less than a timeless marble masterpiece from Mughal times. Its construction is credited to the Mughal emperor Shah Jahan. He had erected this mausoleum in memory of his beloved wife, Arjumand Bano Begum, who was popularly known as Mumtaz Mahal. Shah Jahan’s wife, Arjumand Bano Begum died in A.H. 1040 (A.D. 1630). Last wish of Mumtaz to her husband was “to build a tomb in her memory such as the world had never seen before”. Therefore, Mughal emperor Shah Jahan set about building this fairytale like marvel, which was once in centuries creation.

Also See: Arguments over Central Vista project

Taj Mahal’s construction was started in A.D. 1632 and was completed at the end of 1648 A.D. The designer of the surreal wonder was Ustad Ahmad Lahauri. Construction materials for this architectural genius-work were brought from all over India and central Asia. Over 20000 people were said to have been employed in its construction on a daily basis for 17 years, whose residence were in what is now known as Tajganj.

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West Bengal government prepares for the third wave-earmarks 10000 general beds

Covid 19 in West Bengal

Anticipating the arrival of third wave of Covid-19 later this year, West Bengal government has started earmarking beds in various hospitals to treat children up to 12 years of age.

A senior official said that around 10,000 general beds will be earmarked for women and pediatric cases, as children, with mild to moderate symptoms, may have their mothers accompanying them.

On an order issued on Monday, a state government official said, “Many scientists are of the opinion that children may be affected more in number during the next wave of Covid-19. State government has planned to protect the children by escalating inpatient Covid facilities for the younger group.”

Also See: Are covid vaccines magnetic? Facts you should know related to coronavirus

India’s top experts have however clarified that there is no evidence to assume that the third wave will hit children harder. Dr Randeep Guleria, director, All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) said, “If we look at the data, and compare both the Covid-19 waves, children are usually protected as the numbers are fewer. Even if they get infection, the disease is usually mild…there is no indication that in the third Covid-19 wave, children will be more impacted.”

He further added, “There could also be another theory that says since kids aren’t exposed much yet, in the next wave there’s a possibility that proportionally they may get more affected by virtue of greater exposure.”

Also Read: Indemnity from liability to be granted to vaccine manufacturers like Pfizer and Moderna

But as a measure of precaution, West Bengal is setting aside around 350 Sick Neonatal Care Unit (SNCU) beds for mild to critical cases among infants up to three months of age. Additionally, another 1,300 Pediatric ICU (PICU) beds are being arranged at adult Covid centres also.

The official sited above said, “In Kolkata, around 10 hospitals have been identified in which around 240 beds in PICU will be arranged. Another nine SNCU units in the city have been identified where 45 beds will be set aside.”

The doctors and nurses specifically posted in such units will be trained to handle severe and critically ill paediatric patients.

Also See: New mutants of Coronavirus

On the development of SOPs for these hospitals, the official said, “Do’s and don’ts are being prepared for mothers and caregivers who will be staying with the children. Such training would be completed by July. Supply of equipment, installation and demonstration of gadgets would be done by August.”

The official further said, “Going by the experience of some other countries such as UK and Canada, we expect the third wave to hit sometimes around October-November.”

During the second wave, the daily count in the state hit a peak on May 14 with 20,846 cases. Data shared by the state health department showed that the number of cases is steadily dropping. The number of daily cases was at 3,268 on June 15, and the number of deaths reported has also dropped below 100 now.

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New variant Delta plus is here-Important points to know

covid virus

The New Year brought with it new mutants of the virus causing Covid-19. Subsequently, the world saw the arrival of the Delta-variant of SARS-CoV-2, which is a highly transmissible variant. It has mutated further to form the ‘Delta plus’ or ‘AY.1’ variant. Scientists said that there is no immediate cause for concern in India as its incidence in the country is still low.

The new Delta plus variant has been formed due to a mutation in the variant designated as Delta or B.1.617.2. Delta was first identified in India and was one of the drivers of the deadly second wave. There is no indication yet of the severity of the disease due to the new variant. But, Delta plus is resistant to the monoclonal antibody cocktail treatment (Casirivimab and Imdevimab) for Covid19 recently authorised in India.

Vinod Scaria is a clinician and scientist at Delhi’s CSIR-Institute of Genomics and Integrative Biology (IGIB). He tweeted on Sunday, “One of the emerging variants is B.1.617.2.1 also known as AY.1 characterized by the acquisition of K417N mutation.”

Scaria said that the mutation is in the spike protein of SARS-COV-2, which helps the virus enter and infect the human cells.

Also See: New mutants of Coronavirus

Under the global science initiative GISAID, 63 genomes of Delta (B.1.617.2) with the new K417N mutation have been identified so far, as per Public Health England.

In its latest report on coronavirus variants, updated till last Friday, the health agency said that Delta plus was present in six genomes from India as of June 7.

Mr Scaria further wrote on Twitter, “The variant frequency for K417N is not much in India at this point in time. The sequences are mostly from Europe, Asia and America.”

In late March this year, the earliest sequence of this genome was found in Europe.

Also Read: Indemnity from liability to be granted to vaccine manufacturers like Pfizer and Moderna

The travel histories for the variant are not readily available to make assumptions. Based on this input, Mr Scaria said that an important point to consider regarding K417N is the “evidence suggesting resistance to monoclonal antibodies Casirivimab and Imdevimab”.

The Casirivimab and Imdevimab combination recently received emergency-use authorization in India from the Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation. The antibody cocktail have been priced at a steep ₹ 59,750 per dose by the Drug majors Roche India and Cipla.

Antibodies are proteins that the body naturally produces to defend itself against the disease. Similar to them, monoclonal antibodies are artificially created in a lab and tailor-made to fight the disease that they treat.

Casirivimab and Imdevimab are monoclonal antibodies (MAB) that are specifically directed against the spike protein of SARS-CoV-2. These MABs are designed to block the virus’ attachment and entry into human cells.

The CSIR-IGIB scientist also indicated that the mutation may be associated with the ability to escape the immune response against the virus.

Immunologist Vineeta Bal noted that there may be some setback in the use of commercial antibody cocktail due to the new variant. Allaying fears, she added that resistance to the therapy is not an indication of higher virulence or severity of a disease.

Ms Bal is a guest faculty at the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research, Pune. She said, “How transmissible this new variant is will be a crucial factor to determine its rapid spread or otherwise.”

Neutralising antibodies are responsible for defending cells from pathogens. Ms Bal noted that the quality and quantity of such antibodies generated in the individual infected with the new variant is unlikely to be affected because of the mutation.

The immunologist faculty at IISER Pune said, “Thus, in individuals catching infection with the new variant, it may not be a matter worth worrying.”

On this point, Pulmonologist and medical researcher Anurag Agrawal, the director of CSIR-IGIB concurred. He said, “There is no cause of concern due to the new variant in India as of now.”

He also said that the blood plasma from many fully vaccinated individuals will have to be tested against this variant to determine whether it shows any significant immune escape.

Also Read: An unique Microchip unveiled by Pentagon- the chip can detect presence of Coronavirus in blood

Delta variant continues to evolve and acquire new mutations. Hence, there is a lot of interest in understanding its evolution. Director of CSIR-IGIB said that SARS-CoV-2 has a nearly constant rate of acquiring genetic variants. He also added that each variant has acquired additional variants in a stepwise fashion.

He further added, “Understanding this continued evolution is of great importance in mapping the evolutionary landscape of emerging variants. Largely, the virus has tried to optimise for transmission and immune escape by step-wise acquisition of new mutations.”

The formation of the Delta plus variant of the SARS-CoV-2 is a result of K417N mutation. This mutation of the spike protein causes the virus to enter and infect human cells.

Bani Jolly, a scientist who specialises in genomic sequencing, wrote about the new variant on Twitter, “A small number of sequences of Delta (B.1.617.2) having spike mutation K417N can be found on GISAID. As of today, these sequences have been identified in genomes from 10 countries.”

“The sequences have recently been designated as lineage AY.1 (B.1.617.2.1), a sub-lineage of Delta, due to concerns about K417N being one of the mutations found in the Beta variant (B.1.351),” Jolly further added.

Also Read: Does SARS-Cov-2 have any natural predecessor?

The presence of the Delta plus variant is still low in India. Therefore, scientists have not sounded the alarm. CSIR-IGIB scientist Vinod Scaria said, “The variant frequency for K417N is not much in India at this point in time. The sequences are mostly from Europe, Asia and America.”

The sequences have come from a number of countries across the world, other than India. The countries include USA, Canada, United Kingdom, Russia, Japan, Portugal, Poland, Turkey, Nepal and Switzerland, as per Outbreak Info.

Genomic sequencing specialist Bani Jolly said, “Looking at the large (T95I) cluster, it seems like AY.1 has arisen independently a number of times and could be more prevalent than observed in countries with limited genomic surveillance.”

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Drones deployed in Guangzhou to keep people indoors

Guangzhou city, China

In the Southern Chinese city of Guangzhou, a fleet of 60 drones has been deployed to keep people indoors and to remind those going out to wear masks.

China has quashed the transmission of local cases of Covid19 but the city of Guangzhou witnessed a flare up of cases caused by the delta variant, which was discovered in India.

Over the previous 24 hours, six new cases were reported in Guangzhou, raising the number in the outbreak to more than 100.

Also See: Cyber warfare from China-part-II

The drones are police-operated, and they carry cameras and broadcast messages to people venturing outdoors that they and others are best protected by staying inside.

These flying unmanned vehicles now add to an already dense layer of monitoring. The infrastructure of monitoring (in Chinese cities) includes cell-phone health confirmations, temperature checks and quarantines for those living in or travelling to areas where the risk of infection is considered high.

Also See: Cyber warfare from China-part-I

Guangzhou has isolated several neighbourhoods. It has restricted travel out of the city and the surrounding province and shuttered cinemas and other indoor entertainment venues.

The pandemic has shut down indoor entertainment over holiday at Guangzhou malls. In the Southern Chinese city, Chinese investigators are now targeting officials over coronavirus outbreak.

A disciplinary task force has been set up to hold local cadres to account for flurry of cases. With just six infections reported for Saturday, there are signs of easing, as of now.