A day after the Tripura health department asserted that the state had at least 138 cases of the Delta Plus variant of COVID-19, the Union Health Ministry on Sunday, 11 July, denied the claim and said that there was no case of the highly infectious variant in the state.
A total of 152 samples had been sent to the National Institute of Biomedical Genomics in West Bengal by Tripura, for the purpose of whole genome sequencing (WGS).
The random samples had been taken from people testing RT-PCR-positive between April and May 2021.
"The results of the WGS revealed that three samples had tested positive for B.1.1.7, eleven samples had tested positive for B.1.617.1 (Kappa) and 138 samples had tested positive for B.1.617.2 (Delta)," a press release issued by the Centre indicated.
"There was no case of Delta Plus reported among the aforementioned lot of sequenced samples," it further clarified.
The Tripura government had previously stated that the Delta Plus variant had been detected in as many as 90 percent of the samples sent for genome sequencing to West Bengal, NDTV reported.
Recently, Uttar Pradesh had reported two cases of the highly infectious Delta Plus coronavirus variant.
(With inputs from NDTV)
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