Indian covid variant

The Covid-19 variant contributing to a surge in coronavirus cases in India has been detected in Belgium in a group of Indian students who arrived from Paris, Belgian authorities said on Thursday. Twenty nursing students, who arrived in Belgium in mid-April after travelling from the French capital's Charles de Gaulle airport, have tested positive for the variant, officials said.

Greece has become the latest European nation to detect a case of the Covid-19 variant that has helped drive an explosion in infections in India, authorities said Sunday.

Around 20 people in France have been currently detected with the variant of Covid-19 first found in India, French health minister Olivier Veran told LCI TV on Monday. The WHO has described the indian covid variant as a "variant of interest", suggesting it may have mutations that would make the virus more transmissible, cause more severe disease or evade vaccine immunity.

The number of UK cases of a worrying coronavirus variant from India more than doubled for a second week as authorities also monitor a new mutation of the virus, adding fresh doubt to the UK plans to fully unlock the economy. Health officials have now detected 3,424 cases of the B1.617.2 variant, also known as VOC-21APR-02, Public Health England said Thursday in a statement.

A first case of the Covid-19 variant contributing to the exploding outbreak in India has been detected in Switzerland, the public health authority said Saturday.

The World Health Organization said Tuesday that a variant of Covid-19 feared to be contributing to a surge in coronavirus cases in India has been found in over a dozen countries. The UN health agency said the B.1.617 variant of Covid-19 first found in India had as of Tuesday been detected in over 1,200 sequences uploaded to the GISAID open-access database "from at least 17 countries".

A week after hitting the 500 mark, daily cases of Covid-19 in India crossed 1,000 on Saturday for the first time in 130 days, as the case count, which has been inching up for five weeks, rose more sharply in the past seven days. While west and south India accounted for most of the new cases, infections have started rising in the north as well.

The lab-based study was carried out by the NYU Grossman School of Medicine and NYU Langone Center and is considered preliminary because it has not yet been published in a peer-reviewed journal.

The city on Friday reported one new Covid case on Friday, while the positivity rate was recorded at 0.07%.

Vietnam has detected four cases of a Covid-19 variant believed to be behind a devastating surge of the virus in India, state media said Thursday.

International scientists are now trying to decode the Covid variant — B.1.617 — that appears more infectious in India. There is a theory that this variant emerged in Amravati and caused the huge surge in cases in nearby districts in February, though more research is needed to confirm this.

Israel has registered eight cases of a coronavirus variant first identified in India and believes that the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine is at least partially effective against it, an Israeli health official said on Tuesday.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson has already warned that the final stage of lifting restrictions, due on June 21, may be delayed amid rising concerns over the new variant.

The number of COVID-19 cases of the JN.1 sub-variant reported from 12 states rose to 619 as of January 4. The majority of those infected are opting for home-based treatment, indicating mild illness. The Centre has asked states to maintain vigilance and comply with operational guidelines for surveillance. The WHO classified JN.1 as a separate variant of interest due to its rapid spread, but it poses a low global health risk.

Covid-19’s so-called ‘Indian variant’, which is B.1.617 mutant, has a “modest” ability to “escape” the antibodies developed by vaccines, but it can, at best, cause moderate illness among those who have got the shots, scientists from India and the UK have found. The scientists have established that “vaccination is still protective for the majority of people”.

As infections surge by more than 300,000 cases for 14 straight days, pushing India’s tally past 20 million, the country’s limited ability to track new mutations emerging from its outbreak is a growing concern for scientists.

India reported a single-day rise of 26 fresh COVID-19 cases while the active caseload was recorded at 172, according to Union Health Ministry data. The data, updated at 8 am, showed the death toll at 5,33,295 (5.33 lakh). India's total COVID-19 case tally is at 4,50,01,536 (4.50 crore). The number of people who have recuperated from the disease has risen to 4,44,68,069 (4.44 crore)The case fatality rate stands at 1.19 per cent. According to the ministry website, 220.67 crore vaccine doses have been administered so far.

A WHO spokeswoman said that it was not clear at this point to what extent the variant was responsible for the rapid increase in cases in India in recent months. There are many factors that could have contributed to this, she said.

The emergence of the JN.1 variant adds a new layer of complexity to the surge in Covid-19 cases. Recent reports from Rajasthan indicate two fresh cases of the JN.1 variant, contributing to the escalating numbers across the nation. The United States is experiencing a surge in cases during the holiday season, with the JN.1 variant identified as the fastest-growing variant by the American Medical Association. Learn how you can improve and boost your immunity naturally.

What exactly makes these variants prop up? And, if vaccines may not fully protect us, how do we stay safe?

India's Olympic-bound recurve archery team’s visit to Switzerland for World Cup Stage 2 in Lausanne from May 17 to 23 has been called off after the Swiss Embassy’s refusal to issue short-term visas in view of the flying ban imposed on Indian travellers on account of the raging Covid-19 pandemic here.