It was around a few days back that a mutated strain of coronavirus, which has a 70 percent higher contraction rate than the original virus got discovered in the United Kingdom. As scare looms up, another mutant variant of COVID-19 named N440K has been now detected in various parts of India.
Coronavirus mutant variant spreading quickly in Andhra Pradesh
Researchers in India have found 19 coronavirus variants spreading in the country, and out of them, a mutated variant named N440K stands apart, as it has been found in nearly 34 percent of the 272 coronavirus genomes analyzed in Andhra Pradesh.
According to the latest updates, this mutated variant has been also discovered in states including Telangana, Karnataka, and Maharashtra.
Researchers who took part in the study analyzed 6,370 Indian coronavirus genomes and found that two percent of the genome in the country was carrying the N440K mutation. According to researchers, the N440K mutation happened in July in Asia. However, researchers are still unclear regarding the exact origin of this mutated strain.
Researchers, until now, have not succeeded in determining the contraction capability of this mutated strain. However, as N440K has been found in a large group in AP, researchers believe that this mutant variant could be the most dominant strain in the area.
Coronavirus in India: Latest statistics
The new mutated variant of coronavirus has been discovered in India at a time when the country has started showing signs of flattening the pandemic curve. Apart from the state of Kerala, most of the regions in India have started a steady decline in coronavirus positive cases, but the discovery of the new variant has started bothering medical experts in the country.
According to the latest updates, there are more than 10 million positive coronavirus cases in the country, while the death toll has crossed 1,47,000. On December 27, the country recorded 20,333 positive cases, and 281 COVID-19 related deaths.
