Madhya Pradesh reported it’s first Covid-19 fatality on wednesday which was linked to the Delta Plus variant of SARS-CoV-2. The Delta Plus form of the novel coronavirus was discovered in samples recovered from a deceased Covid patient in Ujjain after genome sequencing.
“A woman died in Patidar Hospital due to coronavirus on May 23 after she tested positive for Covid-19. Her sample and that of 14 others were sent for genome report (sequencing) in a lab in Bhopal. Out of these, 15 samples, two persons were found infected with the Delta Plus variant and among these two, a woman died on May 23 in the private hospital,” an official release said.
It should be noted that the husband of the deceased patient had tested positive for Covid-19 before the woman. It was also discovered that the husband had taken both the shots of the vaccine, while the woman was yet to receive the jab.
State medical education minister confirmed death
State medical education minister Vishwas Sarang confirmed the death and said that five cases of the new variant have been found in the state till now.
He went on to add, “It is interesting to note that four out of the five people whose samples were found positive for the Delta Plus variant had received the vaccine and are now healthy. However, the patient who did not get vaccinated succumbed to the virus. This is why we appeal to everyone to get vaccinated.”
Alert in all hospitals
Meanwhile, the government has also sounded alert in all hospitals in the wake of the detection of the Delta Plus variant. “The government is focussing on carrying out testing and genome sequencing on a massive scale to ensure that cases are identified without any delay,” the channel quoted minister Medical Education minister Vishwas Sarang as saying.
Cases of Delta Plus variant a mutation of the Delta strain or B.1.617.2 variant first detected in India, are emerging as large parts of India are lifting severe lockdowns and restrictions as COVID-19 cases are declining. World Health Organization has tagged it as a “variant of concern”.
COVID-19 cases in India:
India recorded 54, 336 new coronavirus cases and 1,321 deaths in the last 24 hours. With this the country’s total caseload has risen to over 3 crore, while the death toll has surged to 3.91 lakh. Meanwhile, the active caseload has dropped to 6.27 lakh.