Six people in Madhya Pradesh’s Indore district were found to be infected with the new coronavirus variant AY.4, according to a health official on Monday. Six people were found to be infected with the AY.4 variant of coronavirus, according to a report from the National Center for Disease Control (NCDC) in Delhi. Their samples, along with those of other infected people, were sent for genome sequencing in September, according to chief medical and health officer (CMHO) B S Saitya.
It is for the first time in the last 19-month history of the pandemic that the AY.4 variant was found, he said. Saitya said all the six persons who were found to be infected with the AY.4 variant were fully vaccinated. They have recovered after treatment, he added.
The CMHO said over 50 people who came in contact with these six persons in the last few days were found to be healthy after testing. Meanwhile, Dr Anita Mutha, who heads the microbiology department of the Indore-based Government Mahatma Gandhi Memorial Medical College, said AY.4 is a new variant of coronavirus and not much information is available about its severity.
A total of 1,53,202 COVID-19 cases were found in the Indore district so far. Among them, 1,391 have succumbed to the coronavirus infection. Indore district remained worst affected in MP when the COVID-19 pandemic raged. However, due to the rapid pace of vaccination, the number of new infections found of late has trickled down to one or two per day.
