India detects two new Covid variants, govt says no relation with recent surge in cases

The Prime Minister’s Office held a review of the Covid-19 situation in the country as six states reported a surge in infections in the wake of new mutant virus strains coming to light.

The health ministry, however, denied any relation between the new strains and the recent spike. Health secretary Rajesh Bhushan briefed officials at PMO on Tuesday.

Niti Aayog member (health) Dr VK Paul said, “Two mutant virus strains — N440K and E484Q — have been detected. But so far we have not found any direct relation between the recent surge in states and the two strains.”


When asked whether the two strains were specific to India, Indian Council of Medical Research director general Dr Balram Bhargava said, “These two virus strains have been detected in other countries too and are not specific to India. They have been found in some states in India last year. The E484Q strain was earlier detected in four sequences in Maharashtra in as early as March and July 2020.

The N440K mutation has been reported on 13 different occasions between May and September 2020 in Telangana, Andhra Pradesh and Assam. The current upsurge in Maharashtra cannot be attributed to the currently discussed point mutations. Calling the research as “work in progress”, Paul said that there is no scientific evidence so far to link the cases to the virus strains.

The government also termed as “satisfactory” the offtake of vaccine and emphasised the need for private sector participation in the public immunisation drive against Covid-19. Bhushan said, “At present, 10,000 hospitals are involved in the vaccination drive. Out of these, 2,000 are private hospitals. In the coming days, we would need the help of the private sector to ramp up vaccination coverage and increase the pace of vaccination.”

Calling the research as “work in progress”, Paul said that there is no scientific evidence so far to link the cases to the virus strains.