India COVID-19 crisis: Another mutant with major immune escape capacity raising its ugly head, say experts
Genome sequencing shows that proportions of B.1.618 have been growing significantly in recent months in West Bengal, and along with B.1.617, it forms a major lineage of the deadly virus in the state.
Share Via Email
| A+A A-
A health worker collects a swab sample to test for COVID-19 in Mumbai, India, Tuesday, April 20, 2021. (Photo | AP)
Express News Service
NEW DELHI: Even as the double-mutant Indian variant of SARS-CoV-2 virus is wreaking havoc across the country, genome experts have flagged another lineage of the coronavirus, named B.1.618, with major immune escape capacity. This variant is said to be driving the pandemic in West Bengal and spreading very fast.
New coronavirus variant found in West Bengal thehindu.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from thehindu.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Passengers arriving on flight from the Gulf countries had to undergo RT-PCR tests for Covid-19 at Calcutta airport from Tuesday.
Airport officials said swab samples of nearly 500 passengers of four flights, one from Doha while others from Dubai,were collected at the six counters set up at the international arrival area.
“Initially, there were a few passengers asking why they had to undergo a paid test. We explained to them about the new guideline from the Union health ministry,” said airport director Kaushik Bhattacharya.
An official of a private airline operating a flight from Dubai said they were making in-flight announcements ab-out the tests at Calcutta airport.
Protein Behind Lesser Spread of Coronavirus Variant in Asia Than Europe, North America: Study 11/02/2021
A microbiologist processes coronavirus disease (COVID-19) tests in a lab at the Government Medical College in Kochi, India. Photo:Reuters/Sivaram V
New Delhi: Deficiency of a lung-protecting protein in the Caucasian population may have made Europe and North America more susceptible to the spread of a coronavirus variant as compared to Asia, suggests a study by Indian scientists which also reveals how mutant forms of the virus may find new ways to infect people.
The study, published in the journal Infection, Genetics and Evolution, assessed the global spread of the coronavirus variant with the D614G mutation, which is the predominant lineage infecting North America and European populations.
Deficiency of a lung-protecting protein in the Caucasian population may have made Europe and North America more susceptible to the spread of a coronavirus variant as compared to Asia, suggests a study by Indian scientists which also reveals how mutant forms of the virus may find new ways to infect people.