Delta Plus variant, flagged as a 'variant of concern', seemingly first appeared in Maharashtra, where 21 cases have been detected so far. Its ancestor — the B.1.617 — also appeared first in the state in February.
It has about a 40% higher transmission rate compared with alpha, which already had a 50% higher transmissibility than the original Covid strain, based on data coming out of the UK.
P.2 or B.1.1.28.2 variant of SARS-CoV-2, however, has so far had very less prevalence, with less than 0.5% of the viral samples detected worldwide showing this strain.
Cases of the B.1.617.2 strain have risen to 1,313 over the past week, Public Health England said Thursday, assessing it to be 'at least as transmissible' as the so-called Kent variant.
Early analysis suggests B.1.617.1 and B.1.617.2 have a substantially higher growth rate than other circulating variants in India, suggesting potential increased transmissibility.
The B.1.617 variant of the coronavirus consists of at least 3 sub-lineages — B.1.617.1, B.1.617.2 and B.1.617.3. The B.1.617.2 lineage is now growing in prevalence across the country.
This is the game every nation is now learning to play. Some are finding new allies or seeing value among nations where they’d seen marginal interest. The starkest example is India & Europe.
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