11 cases of COVID-19 Kappa variant found in Rajasthan

After Uttar Pradesh, cases of Covid-19 due to the Kappa variant have been detected in Rajasthan, reported quoting state health minister Raghu Sharma. According to Sharma, 11 cases of the Kappa Covid-19 variant have been detected in the state, of which four cases each are from its capital Jaipur and Alwar, two from Barmer, and one from Bhilwara.

Of these, nine samples returned positive test result for the Kappa variant from Delhi, while two tested positive at Sawai Man Singh (SMS) Hospital in Jaipur, Sharma elaborated further.

Earlier, Uttar Pradesh reported two cases of this variant as genome sequencing of 109 samples, conducted at Lucknow's King George's Medical College, returned positive result for the Kappa variant in two samples while the remaining 107 were found positive with the Delta variant . Delta (also denoted as the B.1.617.2 strain) and Kappa (also denoted as B.1.617.1) were both first detected in India, last year.

Addressing a press briefing last week, Dr VK Paul, member, NITI Aayog, clarified that Kappa is a "variant of interest" (VoI), adding that it is not a new variant as its cases have been reported in the country earlier as well. Dr Paul further said that Kappa is of "much less intensity" and was first reported in February and March this year.

On the Covid-19 front, Rajasthan reported 28 fresh infections on Tuesday while no new fatality took place due to the viral disease, a health department bulletin showed. With this, the western state's cumulative coronavirus infection tally has risen to 953,187 including 943,629 recoveries, 8,945 deaths and 613 active cases.