India-Covid19
WHO labels India's Covid strain as 'variant of concern'
Geneva/IBNS: The World Health Organisation (WHO) on Monday classified India's Covid-19 strain as a 'variant of concern' amid a devastaging second wave of the pandamic.
The UN health agency said the B.1.617 variant of Covid-19 that was first detected in India last October seemed to be transmitting more easily than the original version of the coronavirus.
WHO said it might possibly have some increased resistance to vaccine protections.
"There is some available information to suggest increased transmissibility of the B.1.617," Maria Van Kerkove, the WHO's lead on Covid-19, told reporters.
"As such we are classifying this as a variant of concern at the global level," she said, stating that more details would be provided in the WHO's weekly epidemiological update on Tuesday.
India recorded 3,66,161 new Covid-19 cases between Sunday and Monday mornings, a slight dip in the daily count after for the past few days over 4 lakh daily cases were recorded, revealed the county's Ministry of Health.
During the same period, 3,754 deaths have been reported, as per the Ministry of Health released data.
The total death toll due to the virus in India now stands at 2,46,116.
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