‘Double Mutant’ covid variant found in India

Just after finding the California variant in Nebraska, a new 'double mutant' variant has popped up in India

NEW DELHI (KLKN)- A very different strain of virus is showing up in India. It’s called a “double mutant” variant of COVID-19.

This is already adding to the struggles the country is facing, raising fears of a second wave. On March 25, India recorded 53,476 new cases of COVID-19–making it the highest single-day rise in cases since October 23, according to CNN figures from the Indian Ministry of Health.

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A “double mutant” variant is a virus strain that carries two mutations. It’s not yet clear how many infections have been linked to this double mutant variant or whether the strain is any more dangerous.

India’s top researchers announced that there are almost 800 variants warranting concern in the country.

The Health Ministry has said “such mutations confer immune escape and increased infectivity,” while adding that further analysis is being conducted. According to Johns Hopkins University, India has reported over 11.7 million cases and 160,000 related deaths.

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A number of factors are contributing to that rise, Randeep Guleria, director at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences, told CNN.

“One of the factors is that today it’s been one year since India had the lockdown and there are people who seem to have gone into Covid fatigue,” he said, adding that “you see that in the community, when you go out, wearing a mask has become less and less.

“We see crowds developing, partying, a lot of marriage ceremonies are happening in India,” he added.

Guleria said that a new variant was not necessarily cause for alarm since researchers are still investigating the effect of the mutations.

“They are not clear as to what is the significance of this,” he said. “Does it have clinical significance or is it just an observation? And that has to be linked to epidemiological data, which is what is being done.”