SA COVID-19 variant found in 4; infected persons, contacts quarantined: ICMR DG

New Delhi: The Union Government today said that four cases of covid-19 with South Africa strain have been detected in the country in January.

"In India, the South African strain of covid-19 has been detected in 4 returnees from South Africa. All travellers and their contacts tested and quarantined," said Dr. Balram Bhargava, DG ICMR.

He further said," ICMR-NIV is attempting to isolate and culture the South African variant of SARS-CoV-2."

On the UK variant of the covid-19, Dr. Balram Bhargava, DG ICMR said," Today we have 187 UK variant patients. All confirmed cases are quarantined and treated. Their contacts have been isolated and tested. Neutralisation potential with UK variant of the virus is there with the vaccine that we have."

"A case of Brazil variant of SAS-CoV-2 detected in the first week of Feb. Virus strain successfully isolated and cultured at ICMR-NIV-Pune. Experiments to assess vaccine effectiveness are underway. South African and Brazilian variants are different from the UK variant," said DG ICMR.

India reported 56 new cases per million population in the last 7 days in India according to the Union Health Ministry.

The government said that Kerala and Maharashtra with 61,550 and 37,383 active cases respectively account for 72% of the total active cases in the country.

India’s total Active Caseload has dropped to 1.36 lakh (1,36,872) today.

The present active caseload now consists of just 1.25% of India’s total Positive cases. More than 1.06 crore (1,06,33,025) people have recovered so far. 11,805 patients have recovered and got discharged in the last 24 hours. India’s Recovery Rate of 97.32% is amongst the highest in the world. The difference between the recovered and active cases has further increased to 1,04,96,153 today.

In another positive development, 31 States/UTs have reported Recovery Rate more than the national average. Daman & Diu & Dadra & Nagar Haveli have a recovery rate of 99.88%.

Seventeen States/UTs reported no deaths in the last 24 hours. These are Lakshadweep, Sikkim, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Gujarat, Chandigarh, J&K (UT), Meghalaya, Ladakh (UT), Manipur, Haryana, A&N Islands, Rajasthan, Nagaland, Tripura, Arunachal Pradesh and D&D & D&N.

Also, 6 States/UTs have reported no new cases in the last 24 hours. These are Sikkim, Meghalaya, A&N Islands, Nagaland, Tripura and D&D & D&N.