The preliminary assessment of outcomes of hospitalisation and case fatality caused by the new variant was performed by using a matched cohort study. In this, 1,769 genome sequenced variant cases were matched with the same number of cases which are distinctly different from the new variant. The median age of variant cases was 36 years and 35 for the wild-type cases. Over 51% of both the variant cases wild-type comparator cases were female. While the variant was earlier called Variant Under Investigation (VUI), it is now redesignated as Variant of Concern (VOC).

Source: The Hindu December 29, 2020 20:13 UTC