What is the Delta Plus variant of coronavirus?
Below is what we know about the variant. It has been found in Britain, parts of Europe and North America, as well as India. Pune, India: Indian authorities said on Wednesday they had found around 40 cases of the Delta coronavirus variant carrying a mutation that appears to make it more transmissible, and advised states to increase testing. The variant, referred to as Delta Plus in India, was first reported in a Public Health England bulletin on June 11 and is among a number of other variants. It is a sub-lineage of the Delta variant first detected in the country and has acquired the spike protein mutation K417N which is also found in the Beta variant first identified in South Africa. Some scientists worry that the mutation, coupled with other existing features of the Delta variant, could make it more transmissible. The mutation K417N has been of interest as it is present in the Beta variant (B.1.351 lineage), which was reported to have immune evasion property, Indias Health Ministry said in a statement. Shahid Jameel, a top Indian virologist, said the K417N was known to reduce the effectiveness of a cocktail of therapeutic monoclonal antibodies.