WHO: 'Indian variant of Covid is present in 44 countries worldwide'.

By Cristiano Antonino On May 12, 2021

Indian variant to Covid, according to WHO the highest number of cases of variant B.1,617, after India, was detected in the UK

Indian Covid variant, WHO report

The World Health Organisation has found the variant behind the explosion in the number of covid-19 cases in India in dozens of other countries around the world.

First appearing in India in October, the B.1.617 mutation was detected in sequences uploaded to the Gisaid database from 44 countries in all six WHO regions.

This was announced by the World Health Organisation, adding that it had received ‘notification of detection in five other countries’.

Apart from India, where there are more than 250,000 deaths from the coronavirus, the highest number of cases of variant B.1,617 was detected in the UK.

Classified this week by the WHO as ‘of concern’, the mutation joined the list of three other variants, those that first appeared in the UK, Brazil and South Africa, which are considered more dangerous than the ‘original version’ of the coronavirus because they are more contagious, deadly or resistant to certain vaccines.