How India’s second wave became the worst COVID-19 surge in the world
The sudden spike in cases has brought the nation s healthcare system to its knees. There are no hospital beds, no oxygen, no medicines. And then there are the variants.
ByNilanjana Bhowmick
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New DelhiDuring the past few weeks, Indian social media has been inundated with SOS messages: hospitals tweeting about dwindling oxygen supplies and physicians watching helplessly as patients perish from preventable deaths. A journalist pleading for but denied a hospital bed took to Twitter to log his deteriorating condition till he died. Overwhelmed crematoria are working
India is battling a record-breaking rise in COVID-19 infections that has overwhelmed hospitals and led to severe bed and oxygen shortages.
A key question is whether a new variant with potentially worrying mutations – B.1.617 – is behind what is currently the world’s fastest-growing outbreak, which added more than 330,000 fresh infections on Friday.
The B.1.617 variant has already appeared elsewhere, including in the United States, Australia, Israel and Singapore. Concern about it has led some countries, including the United Kingdom and Canada, to slap travel restrictions on India.
Here is what we know so far.
When did it emerge?
Viruses change all the time and the one that causes COVID-19 has already undergone several thousand mutations – some more concerning than others.
Preliminary study shows Covishield protects against double mutant variant
Updated:
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Convalescent plasma from people who were infected and those who had recovered was tested
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Convalescent plasma from people who were infected and those who had recovered was tested
Studies by researchers at the Hyderabad-based Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB), a CSIR lab, found that protection against the double mutant variant was also seen both when convalescent plasma from people who have been infected and have already recovered was tested in the lab.
“Both Covishield vaccinated sera and convalescent sera were found to offer protection against the double mutant variant (B.1.167),” says Dr. Rakesh Mishra, Director of CCMB. “This is only a preliminary study involving four-five people for each group and was carried out among young people who have recovered from prior infection and another group of people who have received Covishield vaccine.”
NEW DELHI, April 23 India is battling a record-breaking rise in Covid-19 infections that has overwhelmed hospitals and led to severe bed and oxygen shortages. A key question is whether a new variant with potentially worrying mutations B.1.617 is behind what is currently the world’s.
Convalescent plasma from people who were infected and those who had recovered was tested
Studies by researchers at the Hyderabad-based Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB), a Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) lab, found that protection against the double mutant variant was also seen both when convalescent plasma from people who have been infected and have already recovered was tested in the lab.
“Both Covishield vaccinated sera and convalescent sera were found to offer protection against the double mutant variant (B.1.167),” said Dr. Rakesh Mishra, Director, CCMB. “This is only a preliminary study involving four-five people for each group, and was carried out among young people who have recovered from prior infection and another group of people who have received Covishield vaccine.”