Image: Time
Faizel Patel – 02/072021
As world battles the Delta variant of COVID-19, a new strain, the Delta variant Plus has now emerged in India as the country recorded over four hundred thousand deaths from the pandemic.
The “Delta plus”, AY.1 or B.1.617.2.1, has an extra mutation in the spike protein of the SARS-CoV-2 virus, the virus that causes COVID-19.
The Delta Plus was first found in India in April 2021 and has since been detected in other countries including the UK, US, Switzerland, Japan, Russia, and China.
Speaking to Radio Islam from India, the national president of the Progressive Medicos & Scientists Forum (PMSF) Harjit Singh Bhatti says the COVID-19 virus is continuously mutating.
“We have seen this type of situation and that’s why lots of casualties. But fortunately it was limited to only two months. It means we have seen most of the cases in April and May then there is decline in June. Now we can say that in my hospital I don’t have a single COVID patient, it means all of them were either recovered and they are in their homes.”
Bhatti says whenever a new variant emerges, it is more contagious then the previous variant.
“These variants are also more contagious. This will also put responsibility on the citizens to follow more appropriately COVID appropriate behaviour. A small mistake by citizens can lead to a disaster because this virus is very contagious and apart from them infecting more people it is also causing more severe infections.”
Bhatti says the COVID-19 vaccine protects people from more severe infections of the virus despite the mutations, adding that India has also released its own vaccine but it has not yet been approved by the World Health Organisation (WHO).
Listen to the interview with Harjit Singh Bhatti
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