Currently, very infectious B.1.617 (double mutants) and B.1 are the main variants of the prevalence, says the Ministry of Health.
The Department of Health, Medicine and Family Welfare of Andhra Pradesh said that the novel coronavirus variant B.1.36 (N440K) was found in the state along with Karnataka and Telangana back in June-July last year. It was widespread between December 2020 and February 2021, dropped dramatically in March, and was now very low, according to the Center for Cell and Molecular Biology (CCMB), the public health department said in a press release on Thursday.
“In April, two major strains – B.1.617 (double mutant) and B.1 – were identified in the positive samples from AP, Karnataka and Telangana.
“They are very contagious and spread not only to adults but also to younger age groups,” it says.
The department said an average of 250 positive samples were being sent to CCMB for genome sequencing each month from laboratories in AP
It was also noted that the World Health Organization considered line B.1.617 as a Variant of Interest (VoI) from India in the weekly epidemiological update COVID-19 of April 25, but N440K was not mentioned according to research data and not very virulent.
“N440K was efficient in the cell culture system under experimental conditions. This does not mean that it will be the same in humans or in a complicated pandemic scenario, ”the press release said.