Summary:
India reports 40 cases of the Delta Plus variant of the novel coronavirus.
Most of the cases are from Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Kerala and Tamil Nadu.
Till Tuesday, the number was 22.
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On Wednesday, A total of 40 cases of the new Delta Plus variant of coronavirus disease (Covid-19) has been reported in India, reported news agency ANI citing sources from the central government.
The Union ministry of health and family welfare (MoHFW) released a statement, here they called Delta Plus a "variant of concern" (VoC).
In declaring so, the ministry cited an analysis by a consortium of genomic sequencing labs that purportedly found the mutated virus to spread more readily.
Earlier that day, addressing a press conference, Union health secretary Rajesh Bhushan had called Delta Plus a "variant of interest" (VoI), which denotes that the variant is being studied.
"India reports 40 cases of the Delta Plus variant of the novel coronavirus.
Most of the cases are from Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Kerala and Tamil Nadu.
It is still a variant of interest," the government sources were quoted as saying.
Till Tuesday, the number was 22.
In its statement, the ministry had also noted it alerted the states where the said variant has been found.
"Maharashtra, Kerala and Madhya Pradesh have been advised that the public health response measures, while broadly remaining the same, have to be more focused and effective.