In Maharashtra. no fewer than 66 people have been found infected with the Delta Plus variant of COVID-19
Bombay:
Five people, including one from Mumbai, have died and as many as 66 people have been found infected with the Delta Plus variant of COVID-19 in Maharashtra so far. Some of them are fully vaccinated, the health ministry said Friday.
Seven of these patients were under the age of 18, she added.
The COVID-19 Delta Plus variant, which is considered highly contagious, was detected during genome sequencing of smears sent from different parts of the state.
A 63-year-old fully vaccinated woman from Mumbai died of the infection in the last week of July, the first death from the Delta Plus variant in Mumbai, a civilian official said.
After the woman’s death in Mumbai, at least two of her closest contacts were also found infected with the Delta Plus variant, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) official said.
A resident of Ghatkopar, a suburb of Mumbai, died in the ICU of a hospital on July 27. It wasn’t until Aug. 11 that state authorities learned she had the Delta Plus variant infection after the genome sequencing report came, the official said.
The woman had taken both doses of the Covishield vaccine but tested Covid positive on July 21, he said.
According to a statement from the health department, a 50-year-old woman from Thane was tested positive for the coronavirus on July 22, and her report received Friday showed she was infected with the Delta Plus variant.
The woman had mild symptoms and has since recovered, the statement said.
Of the five deaths linked to the Delta Plus variant, two patients were from Ratnagiri district of Maharashtra and one from Raigad, Beed and Mumbai, the health department said, according to the Press Trust of India news agency.
The maximum number of Delta Plus patients – 13 – belongs to Jalgaon in northern Maharashtra, followed by Ratnagiri at 12 a.m. and Mumbai at 11 a.m., the health department said.
Six patients each came from Thane and Pune districts, three from Palghar and district, two from Nanded and Gondia, one each from Chandrapur, Akola, Sindhudurg, Sangli, Nandurbar, Aurangabad, Kolhapur and Beed, according to the health department.
It said, “80 percent of the samples sent for genome sequencing tested positive for the Delta plus variant (of coronavirus).”
Of the 66 Delta Plus patients, 33 were in the age group of 19 to 45 years, 18 in the age group of 46 to 60 years, eight were older than 60 years and seven were younger than 18 years.
According to the statement, among the total patients, 34 are women.
“Of 66 patients, 10 had taken both doses of vaccine. Eight others had taken the first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine. Two of these 18 people had taken Covaxin and 16 Covishield,” the statement said.
Of the total patients, 61 have already recovered, and 31 of them showed mild or no symptoms of the infection, it said.
Earlier, an 80-year-old woman from the Ratnagiri district of Maharashtra who was infected with the Delta Plus variant died on June 13. She had not been vaccinated, officials said.
The death of Delta Plus in Raigad district was reported in July from Nagothane, about 100 km from Mumbai.
Raigad collector Nidhi Chaudhari told PTI news agency that a 69-year-old man suffering from comorbidities tested positive on July 15 and died on July 22. The report on his Delta Plus infection was received later, she said.
“This person was fully vaccinated,” the collector said.
