63-yr-old woman's death marks first Delta Plus caused death in Mumbai

Mumbai: Mumbai on Friday reported its first death due to the Delta Plus variant of Covid-19 with one 63-year-old woman succumbing to the infection on July 27, BMC officials said.

According to officials, the woman had several comorbidities including diabetes.

This is Maharashtra's second death from the Delta Plus after an 80-year-old woman from Ratnagiri died last month.

The Mumbai woman was fully vaccinated and among seven patients in the city whose reports turned out positive for the Delta Plus variant.

The results of genome sequencing from the woman's samples arrived on Wednesday.

Mumbai's civic body BMC (Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation) started contacting the seven patients after receiving the results from the state health department.

Two of her close contacts have also tested positive for Delta Plus. She didn't have any travel history.

The woman was on oxygen support and was administered steroids and Remdesivir, according to officials.

The Delta Plus is a mutation of the Delta, the highly contagious Covid variant first detected in India.

According to the state government, 13 more have tested positive for the Delta Plus variant across Maharashtra, along with seven samples from Mumbai. Three cases are in Pune, two each in Nanded, Gondia, Raigad and Palghar, and one each in Chandrapur and Akola.

With this, the number of Delta Plus patients has increased to 65.

The mutant Covid strain was also found in seven children and eight senior citizens. Maharashtra health department officials are trying to trace people who have recently come into contact with infected patients.

On Wednesday, the central government said the Delta Plus has been detected in 86 cases across the country but there is no "exponential surge" so far.

The most were detected in Maharashtra, followed by Madhya Pradesh and Tamil Nadu, Sujit Singh, the National Centre for Disease Control chief, told reporters at the Union Health Ministry briefing.

"This variant, through its transmission, has not led to any major exponential surge," Mr Singh said.

The Delta variant drove the deadly second wave of the coronavirus in April-May that overwhelmed the country's health infrastructure and left thousands desperate for hospital beds, oxygen, medicines and vaccine.