“The Indian variant is highly contagious and people must be on the alert,” Nasima Sultana, additional director general of the health directorate, said at a news briefing in Dhaka on Saturday. The original India variant, officially known as B.1.617, has three subtypes -- all with slightly different genetic mutations. B.1.617.2, now found in Bangladesh, appears to be spreading more quickly than two other identified subtypes of the Indian variant. Nasima Sultana of DGHS said six cases of the Indian variant have been identified by Bangladesh, but not all of them are completely of the Indian variant. “Two cases are confirmed to be of the Indian variant, while the others are quite close to it.”

Source: bd News24 May 08, 2021 11:03 UTC