Fact Check: COVID-19 Delta Plus Variant detected in Tripura? Health Ministry clarifies

Amid the coronavirus pandemic, ample fake news is being spread on social media platforms such as WhatsApp and Facebook. Recently, reports claiming that the delta plus variant of COVID-19 was found in Tripura has been doing rounds on the internet.

Rejecting the claim, the Union Health Ministry said that no case of delta plus variant of SARS-CoV-2 has been found in Tripura.

The ministry informed that 152 randomly collected samples of COVID-19 positive people were sent from the state to the National Institute of Biomedical Genomics (NIBMG) in West Bengal for Whole Genome Sequence (WGS) to identify variants.

The results revealed that three samples tested positive for the B.1.1.7 Alpha variant, while 11 tested positive for the Kappa variant. 138 samples had tested positive for the Delta variant, the ministry said.

"There was no case of Delta plus reported among the aforementioned lot of sequenced samples," the health ministry said, reported PTI. 

The clarification was issued after some media reports claimed that cases of Delta plus variant were discovered in the northeastern state. Hence, the reports of COVID-19 delta plus variant found in Tripura are untrue.

According to Health Ministry data, Tripura has so far witnessed 70,749 confirmed COVID-19 cases of which, 715 succumbed to the infection, while 4,100 cases are active. 65,934 individuals have also recovered from the illness.

About Delta plus variant

The delta plus variant of COVID-19, also known as B.1.617.2, was first reported in a Public Health England bulletin. It is a sub-division of the delta variant. In India, the strain was first discovered in Maharashtra. It is suspected to trigger the third wave due to high transmissibility. Apart from regular symptoms, this strain can cause vomiting, stomach aches, nausea and appetite loss. The mutation has been reported in several countries, including UK, Japan, Portugal, China, Switzerland, Poland and Russia.