Health officials in India are monitoring a new coronavirus variant that was recently discovered as the country is dealing with a rise in cases. The new strain is a "double mutant" and contains two mutations.
Researchers have not determined if the new variant is more infectious or deadlier than the original strain of the coronavirus. They said there has not been a large number of cases with the new variant, and it alone does not account for the recent uptick in cases that India has seen over the past few weeks.
The new variant was detected in 206 patients in the western state of Maharashtra, which is one of the worst-hit areas of the country.
"Though VOCs and a new double mutant variant have been found in India, these have not been detected in numbers sufficient to either establish or direct relationship or explain the rapid increase in cases in some States," India's Ministry of Health said in a statement. "Genomic sequencing and epidemiological studies are continuing to further analyze the situation."
On Thursday (March 25), India reported more than 53,000 new cases, which is the highest number of new cases in a single day since October 23, according to CNN. India is third in the world with over 11.7 million cases of COVID-19 and fourth with over 160,000 deaths, according to data collected by John Hopkins University.
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