187 Persons With UK COVID-19 Strain, 4 With SA Variant Identified In India Today

New Delhi: As many as 187 persons in India have been identified with UK COVID-19 variant, while 4 returnees from South Africa have been identified with the South African strain of Coronavirus today, informed Dr Balram Bhargava, Director General of Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR).

All confirmed cases are quarantined and treated. Meanwhile, their contacts have been isolated and tested. Neutralisation potential with UK variant of the virus is there with the vaccine accessible in India, he said.

He further informed that a case of Brazil variant of SAS-CoV-2 detected in the first week of Feb. The virus strain is successfully isolated and cultured at ICMR-NIV-Pune. Experiments to assess vaccine effectiveness are underway. South African and Brazilian variants are different from the UK variant.

The ICMR has found a total of 192 Covid-19 cases of the new variants of mutated SARS-CoV-2 in last two months, including four from the variant emerging in South Africa and one from the Brazilian variant.

However, no mortality has been reported so far in the cases who contracted the UK variant as well as those who are infected by the variants from South Africa and Brazil.

About the SA variant, better known as B.1.351, Bharagava said that its cases were reported in January in four returnees from African countries.

"One case was found in a person who returned from Angola, one from Tanzania and rest from persons who returned from South Africa," he said.

Bhargava added that that this variant has spread to 44 countries and the National Institute of Virology, Pune is attempting to isolate and culture the variant.

"The efficacy of vaccines on it will be known after the isolation and culture of the variant," he said.

Meanwhile, the Brazilian variant or P.1 lineage, has been found in the first week of February in a person who returned from the South American country recently. The strain has spread to 15 countries, however, it has been successfully isolated and cultured at the NIV in India, it added.

"The experiments are underway to assess the efficacy of vaccines on the Brazilian variant," Bhargava said.

Earlier today, the Union Health Ministry said, as many as 17 states and UTs have reported no COVID-19 death in the last 24 hours, while six of them have recorded no new case during the period.

The recoveries have surged to 1,06,33,025 with 11,805 more patients having recuperated in a day, and India's Recovery Rate of 97.32 percent is amongst the highest in the world, it said in its update of cases till 8 AM.

The difference between the recovered and active cases has further increased to 1,04,96,153, the ministry underlined.

"In another positive development, 31 states and UTs have reported a recovery rate of more than the national average. Daman and Diu and Dadra and Nagar Haveli have a recovery rate of 99.88 percent," the ministry said.

Seventeen states and UTs reported no death in 24 hours. These are Lakshadweep, Sikkim, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Gujarat, Chandigarh, Jammu and Kashmir, Meghalaya, Ladakh, Manipur, Haryana, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Rajasthan, Nagaland, Tripura, Arunachal Pradesh and Daman and Diu (D&D) and Dadra and Nagar Haveli (D&N).

"Also, six states and UTs have reported no new case in the last 24 hours. These are Sikkim, Meghalaya, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Nagaland, Tripura and D&D and D&N," the ministry stated.

India's COVID-19 active cases dropped to 1.36 lakh and consist of just 1.25 percent of its total case tally.

Till 8 AM on February 16, the cumulative number of healthcare (HCW) and frontline workers (FLW) vaccinated against COVID-19 in the country has surpassed 87 lakh.

The COVID-19 vaccination drive was launched in India on January 16.

As many as 87,20,822 beneficiaries have been vaccinated through 1,84,303 sessions, as per the provisional report till 8 AM. These include 61,07,120 HCWs (1st dose), 1,60,291 HCWs (2nd dose) and 24,53,411 FLWs (1st dose).

Till day 31 of the vaccination drive (15th February 2021), a total of 4,35,527 beneficiaries were administered the vaccine. Out of which, 2,99,797 beneficiaries were vaccinated across 10,574 sessions for the first dose and 1,35,730 HCWs received the second dose of vaccine.

A total of 9,121 new cases were recorded in 24 hours of which 80.54 percent of the new cases are from five states, the ministry said.

Maharashtra reported the highest daily new cases at 3,365. It is followed by Kerala with 2,884, while Tamil Nadu reported 455 new cases.

The ministry said 81 deaths were recorded during the period, and five states account for 70.37 percent of them.

Maharashtra saw the maximum casualties (23). Kerala follows with 13 deaths and Punjab has reported 10 new deaths.

(With Inputs From IANS)