In Uttar Pradesh, two cases of Kappa variant have been detected. It is a variant of interest, says Dr VK Paul

Kappa variant cases Uttar Pradesh: After variant of concern Delta Plus, the state of Uttar Pradesh has now reported its first case of Kappa variant of the COVID-19 lineage. The patient has succumbed to death. Like Delta plus variant, Kappa too has been labelled as a "variant of interest" by the Union Health Ministry of India.

NITI Aayog Member (Health) Dr VK Paul confirmed at a press briefing on Friday that Kappa is not a new variant as there have been many cases previously reported in the country before. It was detected at the same time when the Delta variant was reported but it got overshadowed by the Delta variant during the second wave, he said.

As per a report by IANS, a 66-year-old man, who subsequently passed away from the infection, tested positive for the Kappa variant in UP’s Sant Kabir Nagar. The other patient in UP to have tested positive for the Kappa variant is a 23-year-old resident doctor at the Baba Raghav Das Medical College, Gorakhpur. Both of the patients did not have any travel history. The strain was detected following the collection of the 66-year-old man's sample on June 13. Kappa became a "variant of interest" after the samples returned positive for the variant in Lucknow's King George medical college, according to an official statement. The genome sequencing of 109 samples was sent to Lucknow and two were confirmed for the Kappa variant of COVID-19 while 107 were of the Delta variant, the statement said. Read more on what Kappa variant is here.

Paul further said that Kappa variant has less intensity, however the Centre will continue to watch it. The variant was earlier reported in February and March of this year, he claimed, which means that Kappa has been around for a long time in the country. "Our watch will continue," he said adding that the government, however, needs to keep an eye on the scientific impact and vaccine immunity of this variant.

Today WHO has announced a new naming system for key #COVID19 variants. The labels are based on the Greek alphabet (i.e. Alpha, Beta, Gamma, etc), making them simple, easy to say and remember.

👉 https://t.co/aYCZfspZyb pic.twitter.com/Gxt14fwVqF

— World Health Organization (WHO) (@WHO) May 31, 2021

According to World Health Organisation (WHO), Kappa was first detected in October last year in India. The variant is identified as B.1.617.1. It is one of the two COVID-19 variants – the other being Delta – first identified in India.

Feature Image Credit: PTI

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