‘Don’t panic’ about India Covid variant 6 May 2021 Christian devotees take part in a prayer mass at St. Joseph's Cathedral on the eve of Good Friday, in Allahabad on April 1, 2021. (Photo by SANJAY KANOJIA / AFP) With the news of a new Covid-19 variant circulating in India possibly having made it through South African ports of entry, scientists say it is too soon for citizens to panic. Although no cases of B.1.617 — the variant blazing through India — have been reported in South Africa, as stated by the National Institute for Communicable Diseases, specialists have started investigating it. In its weekly epidemiology update, the World Health Organisation (WHO) reported that the B.1.617 was a variant of interest and might be responsible for the surge in Covid-19 cases in India.