Over the last few months, researchers have identified new strains of coronavirus (COVID-19) and concerns for the governments have increased across the world. Recently, scientists shared information about the Delta Plus variant which has been affecting a large number of people and now, another new variant of coronavirus, C.1.2, has been identified in a few countries, which as per reports, could be infectious than the other strains.
A member of the state COVID task force, Dr Vasant Nagvekar, who is also working in the field of infectious diseases shared the information regarding this new strain on Thursday, September 2, 2021. Sharing more details, Dr Nagvekar added that the mutation rate of the new strain is 2x faster than the other COVID strains, and more research is needed to understand this further. Detailed studies are being conducted regarding the same since very little is available currently.
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In a statement released by the government, Dr Nagvekar from the Global Hospital said, "A new SARS-CoV-2 variant, C.1.2, just identified in South Africa and other countries with concerns that it could be more infectious and evade vaccines. What sets this variant apart is the speed at which it is mutating. This variant is changing and mutating at a rapid rate which are seen in many variants of concern and variants of interest."
While warning the citizens about the same, he said that following COVID guidelines like wearing a mask, getting vaccinated, social distancing etc. have to be considered regularly. Moreover, he appealed to the citizens to inform the officials if they have any symptoms regarding COVID. Immediate testing and isolation is needed, and if tested positive, the patient should opt for early treatment depending on the diagnostic result.
Also Read: Three COVID-19 vaccine doses like to become routine
On being asked about the COVID mutations, Dr Nagvekar told the PTI that currently researchers have identified mutations like Alpha, Deta, Gamma and Delta, while other strains like Ela, Lita, Kappa, Lamda and Mu have become areas of interest which showcased a few important genetic changes like the severity of causing the disease, immune response, transmissibility, etc., which affect virus characteristics.
Currently, very little is known about the new strain and teams across the world are working towards finding out the symptoms like fever, cold, shortness of breath, runny nose, etc. which is believed to be similar to the ones experienced by COVID patients.
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