The Delta variant of the Covid-19 virus has been identified in 174 districts across 35 states by the Indian SARS-CoV-2 Genomics Consortium (INSACOG). The Delta variant has been declared as a Variant of Concern (VOC) and the highest incidence of this version has been reported from districts in Maharashtra, Delhi, Punjab, Telangana, West Bengal & Gujarat.
The Delta Plus is a variant of the Delta virus with an more mutation (B.1.617.2.1 or AY.1). Alpha, Beta and Gamma are the other variants detected in India. The AY.1 was very first observed in Maharashtra and is becoming linked with the uncommon rise in circumstances seen in many districts of the state. It is now identified in a lot of other states in the nation. According to the well being ministry, there are 51 circumstances of Delta Plus identified in 12 states in the nation such as Maharashtra, Punjab, Gujarat, Kerala, Andhra, Tamil Nadu, Odisha, Rajasthan, Jammu, Karnataka and Haryana.
INSACOG is a consortium of 28 genome sequencing laboratories carrying out sequencing and evaluation of the Covid-19 virus to comprehend the spread and evolution of the SARS CoV-2, its mutations and resulting variants as nicely as ascertaining the status of the variants. INSACOG’s sentinel surveillance and surge surveillance mechanisms are anticipated to assist in the early detection of genomic variants and formulate public well being responses.
India began sequencing SARS-CoV-2 viral genomes in December 2020. The initial focus of India was on restricting the spread of worldwide variants of concern in the nation – Alpha (B.1.1.7), Beta (B.1.351) and Gamma (P.1), which had higher transmissibility. These variants had been tracked by INSACOG. Subsequently, the Delta and Delta Plus variants had been also identified based on entire-genome sequencing evaluation.
Initially, genomic surveillance was focused on the variants carried by international travellers and their contacts in the neighborhood by means of sequencing 3-5% of the total RTPCR positive samples. Subsequently, the sentinel surveillance method was adopted with many sentinel web sites across the nation for a wider geographic spread. RTPCR positive samples are sent from every single sentinel web page for sequencing.