New Delhi: The Centre has asked the state governments where cases of Delta Plus variant of coronavirus have surfaced, to redouble containment and testing efforts, and carry out surge vaccinations. The Union health ministry said on Wednesday that there are 40 confirmed infections with the Delta Plus variant, up from 22 a day before.
“The Public Health Response, in this case, while broadly remaining the same, has to become more focused and stringent. Thus, you are requested to take up immediate containment measures in these districts and clusters including preventing crowds and intermingling of people, widespread testing, prompt tracing as well as vaccine coverage on a priority basis,” Union health secretary Rajesh Bhushan said in a letter sent to state chief secretaries.
Two persons were found infected with the Delta Plus variant of the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) in Madhya Pradesh’s Ujjain district and one of them, a woman, died yesterday, the local administration said on Wednesday.
The first case of the Delta Plus variant of Covid-19 was detected in Jammu and Kashmir on Wednesday, according Government Medical College (GMC) principal Shashi Sudhan Sharma.
Tamil Nadu also reported its first case of the Delta Plus variant of Covid-19 in Chennai, with a city-based nurse getting infected with it, a top government official said on Wednesday.
The variant has been found in 11 countries and infected nearly 200 people. It has already been declared a variant of concern by the Indian government.
The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) and the National Institute of Virology (NIV) have decided to conduct a study to see if the new and more potent variant of coronavirus can be neutralised by the existing vaccines in India.
