How Concerning are Kappa and Lambda Variants of COVID-19?

Two cases of the Kappa variant were reported by the UP government on 9 July during a routine genomic study.

As the second wave of COVID-19 seems to be ebbing across India, a new variant sparked fears again on 9 July when the Uttar Pradesh government reported two cases of the Kappa variant of the virus in the state.

While we know about the Delta variant of the virus, which was believed to be responsible for the deadly second wave, the Kappa variant has not received as much public attention.

But while Kappa has been the talk in health circles for a while, a new variant named Lambda by the World Health Organization (WHO), first detected in Peru, is drawing attention from across the world.