In about 200 samples from Maharashtra double variant strain has been found as per the reports on 24th March 2021 by Union Health Ministry making Maharashtra as the hot spot during second wave in India.
This double variant coronavirus is considered as a variant of concern due to its behavior and fast asymptomatic spreading capability said by K.Vijay Raghavan, India’s principal scientific adviser and mentioned that the double variant strain has been given a code as B.1.617.
61% of samples tested as well as sequenced in Maharashtra are found to be infected with double mutant. In addition the state is recording 50,000 new cases everyday and has 5.64 lakh active cases.
Specific changes like E484Q (amino acid glutamate replaced by amino acid glutamine at 484th position in spike protein) and L452R (amino acid leucine is substituted with amino acid arginine at 452nd position). This type of mutation has made infection more spreading even after vaccination has been done.
So even after vaccination is done the SMS has to be followed Social distancing Mask Sanitization to avoid the spread of the double variants.
