B.1.617.2 becoming dominant COVID-19 variant in India As of May 7, India sequenced 1,124 samples of this variant with a cumulative prevalence of 15 per cent. As of May 16, the UK showed the highest sequences detected at 4,314 cases but the cumulative prevalence rate was lesser than in India, at 6 per cent BusinessToday.In | May 24, 2021 | Updated 12:27 IST COVID-19 crisis: B.1.617.2 variant has been found in 48 countries As cases spread in India, the sub-lineage of B.1.617, B.1.617.2, is beginning to eclipse other variants including the Kent variant, B.1.1.7 that originated in the UK. Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Karnataka has seen cases of B.1.617.2 spread wide. Uttar Pradesh, Delhi, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Puducherry and Bihar have also shown more cases of the new sub-lineage, B.1.617.2.