A new double mutant variant of the coronavirus has been detected and it has been observed in samples from Nagpur in Maharashtra. Nagpur district on Wednesday reported 3,717 new coronavirus cases, its highest single-day figure so far since the outbreak of the pandemic last year, the authorities said.
The Union Health Ministry said that while such mutations confer immune escape and increase infectivity, correlating them with the recent surge in COVID cases is not possible.
National Centre for Disease Control’s director Dr Sujeet Kumar said, “Now when we link we have to see from where the samples have been picked. This is very relevant. In Nagpur, yes, we have found a substantial number of this, around 20 per cent. But correlating the surge with this 20 per cent is not possible.â€
Government data showed the double mutant strain has also been found in two samples from Punjab, one sample from Ladakh and Jammu each, three samples from Gujarat and one sample from Odisha, besides Delhi.
“Double mutant is evolving. We have seen this double mutant E484Q and L452R. This is the double mutant which has been observed in 206 samples in Maharashtra and then in a varied number in Delhi, nine samples, and so on,†Singh was quoted as saying by Hindustan Times.
