Only one coronavirus variant detected in India is now ‘of concern’, says WHO

The World Health Organization on Tuesday said that only one strain of the coronavirus variant first detected in India was now considered “of concern”, while two others had been downgraded.

On Monday, the global health body announced a new naming system for variants of Covid-19 to simplify pronunciation and avoid the possible stigmatisation associated with referring to them with the name of the countries where they were first detected. The B.1.617.2 variant of the virus that emerged in India has been labelled Delta.

Viruses mutate all the time, resulting in millions and millions of new variants. However, what has made scientists worry about B.1.617 is the presence of three mutations – E484Q, L452R and P6814 – the reason why some are referring to it as a “triple mutant” variant.

Last month, the WHO declared the entire strain a “variant of concern”, but on Tuesday it said that only one of the sub-lineages deserved this label. “It has become evident that greater public health risks are currently associated with B.1.617.2, while lower rates of transmission of other lineages have been observed,” the world health body said in its weekly epidemiological update on the coronavirus pandemic.

The B.1.617.2 variant, along with strains first found in United Kingdom, South Africa and Brazil, are seen as more dangerous than the original…

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