B.1.617 variant of Coronavirus

• For the last one and a half year, the whole world has been witnessing the outbreak of Covid-19 pendemic. However, multiple variants of Coronavirus have been observed in different countries since 2019.

• Europe and America were the most affected by the first wave, while India is the most affected country by the current wave. The reason behind a series of surges in India is the new variant B1.617, killing more than lakh of people in less than 2 months.

• During the outbreak of this pandemic multiple variants of coronavirus were defected. The second wave first affected the United Kingdom, where 'B.1.1.7' was identified first. For some time it dominates in Delhi and state of Punjab, but soon a new variant 'B.1.617' replaced it and caused havoc across the country.

• Currently ‘B.1.617’ variant has become the dominant strain across India and has spread to about 40 nations, including the UK, Fiji and Singapore. Some say that this variant is highly trnasmissible.

• The World Health Organization (WHO) has designated B.1.617 a 'variant of concern'. Variants are classified in this way, when there is evidence that they spread rapidly, cause more severe disease.