Centre still mum on double mutant virus link to surge in Covid-19 cases

The double mutation variant of the coronavirus may be a key driving force behind the ballooning Covid-19 cases in Maharashtra, but the Centre is silent on the variant’s link to the second surge even after three months of genome sequencing and research.

Besides Maharashtra, the variety — known as B 1.617 lineage in scientific parlance — has been found in eight other states and two Union Territories -- West Bengal, Delhi, Chhattisgarh, Odisha, Madhya Pradesh, Haryana, Gujarat, Punjab, Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh.

“At least in Maharashtra, there is ample proof that B1.617 is driving the surge. The lineage has also spread across multiple states,” a scientist involved in sequencing and analysing SARS-CoV-2 samples from states told DH.

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The double mutation variant carries two signature genetic changes known as E484Q and L452R that allow the virus to escape the immune system and spread faster.

Scientists said they detected the variant well in time, but the Union Health Ministry and the National Centre for Disease Control prefer to underplay its role in the Covid-19 second wave. More than 2.34 lakh new cases were reported on Friday, of which 63,000-plus were from Maharashtra.

However, the ministry in a press release claimed that higher transmissibility of the double mutation variant had not been established as yet. It also asserted that identification will not change the treatment strategies and RT-PCR tests didn’t miss out such variants.

Scientists admit that there are unanswered questions on the B1.617 lineage, which has also been seen in Australia, Belgium, Germany, Ireland, Namibia, New Zealand, Singapore, the United Kingdom and the USA. One such question is about the vaccine's efficacy to counter the double mutant variety.

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As the virus continues to evolve, scientists have also recently spotted a new lineage of the SARS-CoV-2 known as B1.618 among the samples from West Bengal, said a source in the Indian SARS CoC-2 Genomics Consortium (INSACOG) — a group of 10 laboratories carrying out the genome sequencing of the virus.

But Pune-based National Institute of Virology's persistent refusal to share the sequencing data with other laboratories in the consortium is slowing down the entire process of identifying new lineages and subsequent studies.

Till April 15, the INSACOG carried out 13,614 whole genome sequencing and found the “variants of concern” in 1,189 samples.

They include 1,109 UK variants, 79 South African variants and one Brazilian variant, according to a health ministry statement, which is silent on how many double mutant varieties were identified from Maharashtra and other states.