Up to 35 cases of the Indian Delta variant of COVID-19 have been reported in Sindh, the provincial health department confirmed on Tuesday.
Multiple variants of SARS-CoV-2 are circulating globally. One is the B.1,617 strain, detected in India earlier this year. Early evidence shows that its B.1.617.2 sublineage, dubbed the Delta variation, is more transmissible than modern lineages.
Sindh Health Secretary Qasim Soomro said five members of a family from Lyari of Karachi had confirmed they were infected with the Indian delta variant of the coronavirus.
The condition of four people is considered critical and they are hospitalized. Soomro also said authorities are tracking people who have encountered the newly infected in an attempt to control the spread of the deadly strain.
Citizens were advised to get vaccinated as soon as possible to prevent the virus from spreading.
During this month, 20 people were diagnosed with the delta variant of Covid-19 in the district Rawalpindi.
The World Health Organization (WHO), which gave it the Delta label, classified it as a variant of concern (VOC). He said he continues to see “a significant increase in transmissibility” and “an increasing number of countries reporting outbreaks associated with this variant.”
WHO classifies a variant as a VOC when it is associated with an increase in transmissibility or detrimental change in the epidemiology of Covid-19; increased virulence; or decreased effectiveness of public health measures or available diagnostics, vaccines, therapies.
