{"id":151234,"date":"2021-03-30T13:03:23","date_gmt":"2021-03-30T07:33:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.indialegallive.com\/?p=151234"},"modified":"2021-11-16T18:59:26","modified_gmt":"2021-11-16T13:29:26","slug":"covid-19-sars-cov-2-virus","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.indialegallive.com\/column-news\/covid-19-sars-cov-2-virus\/","title":{"rendered":"Covid-19 second wave: Be cautious, don’t panic"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
By Dr KK Aggarwal<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n It has been more than a year that a country wide lockdown was imposed. After a brief respite in early February 2021 when the number of new cases had significantly come down, there is again a sharp spike in infections. The numbers are escalating at an alarming pace. India is facing a second wave of the Covid-19 pandemic. The wave is stronger, earlier and likely to cross the first wave in numbers, but is expected to have half the mortality.<\/p>\n\n\n\n As per a health ministry data, Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh, Karnataka, Punjab, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Tamil Nadu have reported high number of daily new cases. Together, these seven states account for more than 81% of daily new cases reported in the last 24 hours. Maharashtra is the worst hit with 35,726 daily new cases, followed by Chhattisgarh with 3,162 cases and Karnataka, 2,886.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Genome sequencing has revealed a new \u201cdouble mutant\u201d variant of the coronavirus in Maharashtra, in addition to other \u201cvariants of concern\u201d that have been found outside India. About 795 cases of the UK, South Africa and Brazil variants of the SARS-CoV-2 virus have been detected in the country. But the new double mutant strain has been detected in only 206 samples, whereas 700 samples sequenced in Maharashtra have shown the UK variant; in Punjab too, 81% of samples (326 out of 401 samples) collected between February 1 and March 10 tested positive for the UK strain, making it the dominant strain in the state. In Delhi, 75 samples have shown the presence of the UK variant.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The mutations have also altered the presentation of the infection. Besides the routine clinical presentation of Covid-19, newer patients are younger and in Bengaluru, even younger than 10 years. While the new double mutant variant is a cause for concern, it is not likely to be a cause for panic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The double mutant variant carries the E484Q and L452R mutations in the receptor-binding motif (RBM) part of the spike protein of the SARS-CoV-2 virus. These are substitution mutations and the E484Q mutation resembles the South Africa and Brazil strains, while the L452R mutation is comparable to the California strain. Since these mutations are in the RBM, they are more contagious. No deletion mutation has been detected. So it will spread very rapidly and cause a spurt in the number of cases, but may remain localised and not spread globally. Testing, tracking, isolation and treatment remain the mainstay of management for the new variant\/s and are similar to the strategy adopted for the currently circulating strains of the virus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n