COVID-19: Kerala detects its first cases of Delta-plus variant
PATHANAMTHITTA: Kerala on Monday reported its first cases of the 'Delta-plus' variant of Covid-19, which the World Health Organization has categorised as a ‘Variant of Concern’.
While one case was detected in Pathanamthitta district, two cases were reported in Palakkad district.
Pathanamthitta Collector Narasimhugari TL Reddy said one case of the highly infectious 'Delta-plus' variant was detected in a four-year-old boy at the Kadapra panchayat's ward number 14. The boy was tested positive for coronavirus on May 24. The boy is now Covid negative.
The Delta-plus variant was detected in the testing on his samples at New Delhi-based CSIR Institute of Genomics and Integrative Biology.
Reddy said stringent rules will be implemented in the panchayat in the coming days to ensure that the dangerous Covid-19 variant is contained. He also urged the people to be more vigilant and strictly follow the Covid protocols.
Delta-plus is a mutated form of the 'Delta' variant that is mainly responsible for fuelling the second wave of COVID-19 infections in the country.
The ward where the boy stays is designated as a 'large community cluster area', where the test positivity rate is 18.42 per cent, much higher than the state average of less than 10 per cent on Monday.