New Delhi: The Delta variant of Covid-19 continues to be the main variant of concern in India, the Indian SARS-CoV-2 Genomics Consortium (INSACOG) said in its weekly bulletin, Thursday.
It also said that other variants of interest (VOI) or concern are now negligible in sequencing data from India.
"Delta, including B.1.617.2 (AY) and AY.x sublineages, continues to be the main VOC globally. As per the latest WHO update, Delta has outcompeted other variants in most countries and there is now a declining prevalence of other variants among SARSCoV-2 sequences submitted to publicly available datasets or reported to WHO," said INSACOG in its bulletin.
AY.x refers to a family of sublineages that can range from 1-25. They have a common set of core mutations but large variations in others.
It also added that there is no change to the global scenario.
As of Thursday, the INSACOG has analysed 92,800 genome sequence samples of those who have tested positive for the virus to determine what variants they harbour.
A consortium of 28 national laboratories set up in December 2020 to monitor the genomic variations in Sars-CoV-2, the Covid-19 causing virus, the INSACOG functions under the Union Health and Family Welfare Ministry.
The first cases of the Delta variant first came to light in India in October last year. The variant is also generally blamed for the explosive rise in Covid-19 cases across the country.
Meanwhile, India on Thursday reported 13,091 fresh Covid cases in the last 24 hours. In the same time span, a total of 340 deaths have also been reported, said the Ministry.
New cases in November had dipped to nearly 10,000 a day, a low that hadn't been reported in India since February. However, the last few days have seen cases average 11,000-13,000 every day.