LIVE TV
Odisha
Photo: OTV 
Recommended Stories
Even as a new Delta variant is spreading fast in the UK, and had already cornered one percent of cases in Maharashtra, Odisha today made light of the fear of its spread in the State.
Allaying fears of the outbreak of a sublineage of SARS CoV 2 AY.4.2, in some states in the country, DMET (Director of Medical Education and Training), CBK Mohanty said the percentage of the variant detected in the country is very negligible and people need not worry about it.
Speaking to media persons, Mohanty said the AY 4.2 is a sublineage of the Delta Plus variant and seven cases of this new variant were detected in Indore, while in Maharashtra, the new variant has been detected in only 1 percent of samples.
Also Read
“The new mutant has been classified as Variant Under Investigation (VUI) in the UK, as 6 percent cases there were of this variant. WHO is yet to categorise the mutant under VOC (variant of concern). Though the variant has been recently detected in India, the percentage of these cases in the country is negligible,” elaborated Mohanty.
Meanwhile, scientists have indicated that the new variant may be more contagious and highly transmissible than the original delta strain.
The AY.4.2 belongs to the same family of mutations that define the B.1.617.2, or Delta variant of the Novel Coronavirus that was first identified in India in October 2021.
Odisha's COVID-19 caseload on Sunday surged to 10,38,836 after 425 more people, including 71 children, tested positive for the infection. Three fatalities on Sunday pushed the Coronavirus death toll to 8,312, informed the State Health & Family Welfare .
Of the 425 new cases, 249 are from quarantine centres and the remaining 176 local contact cases. Khordha district of which Bhubaneswar is a part reported 211 infections, followed by Cuttack with 40 cases.
The state currently has 4,554 active COVID-19 cases, while as many as 10,25,917 patients including 410 on Sunday, recovered from the disease.
Odisha has so far conducted over 2,15,85,133 sample tests including 64,709 on Sunday. The State's daily positivity rate now stands at below 1 per cent (0.66 percent).
