_:na92681dd95034a2389518f51fcce3630xb0
<http://schema.org/description>
"&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Washington: &lt;/strong&gt;The double mutant Covid variant &amp;#8212; identified as B1617 &amp;#8212; that was first detected in India, has spread to &amp;#8216;at least 17 countries&amp;#8217;, the World Health Organization (WHO) has said.&lt;/p&gt;\n&lt;p&gt;Up till April 27, B1617 variant had been detected in over 1,200 sequences uploaded on the open-access database GISAID (the Global Initiative on Sharing Avian Influenza Data) &amp;#8220;from at least 17 countries&amp;#8221;, the global health agency said in its weekly epidemiological update on the pandemic. Most sequences were uploaded from India, the UK, US and Singapore, it said on Tuesday.&lt;/p&gt;\n&lt;p&gt;GISAID &amp;#8212; a German non-profit organisation &amp;#8212; was launched in 2016 as a database for sharing flu genomes.&lt;/p&gt;\n&lt;p&gt;Globally, new Covid-19 cases increased for the ninth consecutive week, with nearly 5.7 million new cases reported in the last week &amp;#8212; surpassing previous peaks, the WHO update said.&lt;/p&gt;\n&lt;p&gt;India accounts for &amp;#8220;38 per cent of global cases reported in the past week,&amp;#8221; the report noted.&lt;/p&gt;\n&lt;p&gt;The B1617 variant has been deemed a &amp;#8216;variant of interest&amp;#8217; instead of a &amp;#8216;variant of concern&amp;#8217; by the WHO. However, the WHO has classified the British, South African and Brazilian variants of Covid-19 as &amp;#8220;variants of concern.&amp;#8221;&lt;/p&gt;\n&lt;p&gt;The B1617 variant was first detected in India on December 1, 2020. It contains mutations from two separate virus variants &amp;#8212; E484Q and L452R. The variant is partly held responsible for the second and massive resurgence of coronavirus in the country.&lt;/p&gt;\n&lt;p&gt;More than 3 lakh corona cases have been reported in India for the seventh consecutive day on Wednesday. India reported a record number of 3,60,960 cases and 3,293 deaths in the last 24 hours, according to the health ministry&amp;#8217;s data released on Wednesday morning.&lt;/p&gt;\n&lt;p&gt;&amp;#8220;Preliminary modelling by WHO based on sequences submitted to GISAID suggest that B1617 has a higher growth rate than other circulating variants in India, suggesting potential increased transmissibility, with other co-circulating variants also demonstrating increased transmissibility,&amp;#8221; the WHO update said.&lt;/p&gt;\n&lt;p&gt;&amp;#8220;Other drivers may include challenges around the implementation and adherence to public health and social measures and social gatherings (including mass gatherings during cultural and religious celebrations, and elections),&amp;#8221; it added.&lt;/p&gt;\n"
<https://odishatv.in/world/indias-double-mutant-covid-19-variant-found-in-17-countries-who-538380>