As India is battling the deadly second wave of coronavirus, fresh reports suggest that a triple mutant strain of Covid has been detected in the country. According to an NDTV report, coronavirus triple mutation has been detected in states like Maharashtra, West Bengal, and Delhi, and it could be the main reason behind the drastic surge in Covid cases.
Triple mutation of coronavirus creates panic
Madhukar Pai, professor of epidemiology at McGill University revealed that this triple mutant strain of coronavirus could be much more transmissible than the previous variants of Covid that were detected in the country. Pai also added that the triple mutant variant of Covid is making people sick very quickly. Earlier, experts had confirmed that double mutant variants of coronavirus are found all across the nation.
"We have to keep tweaking vaccines. For that, we need to understand the disease. But we need sequencing on a war footing," Pai told NDTV.
According to Pai, India is going to face a huge challenge in the coming days, as genome sequencing is being done for less than one percent of all cases. Pai added that the delay in detecting the double mutant variant has played a crucial role in elevating coronavirus positive cases in India.
What is triple mutation?
A double mutation happens when two coronavirus strains combine each other, and in triple mutation, three Covid strains combine together to form a new strain. It is still unknown whether the triple mutant is more lethal when compared to the previous strains.
Medical experts in the country are now analyzing the triple mutant strain's role in Covid-related deaths, the severity of infection, and its effects on vaccination.
On April 20, India witnessed more than 2.94 fresh coronavirus positive cases, and the death toll was 2023. Adding up to the already existing worries, the test positivity rate in the country is also climbing up over the past two weeks.
