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<\/p>\nThe World Health Organization said Monday that a new COVID-19 variant first identified in India is now classified as a variant of global concern amid skyrocketing case levels in the country and research that shows the modified coronavirus may spread more easily.<\/p>\n
The variant, known as B.1.617, was first seen in India at the end of last year but has since been found in 32 countries, including the United States. Four variants have now been classified as \u201cvariants of concern,\u201d including those that first emerged in the United Kingdom, South Africa and Brazil. All have worried scientists who say the mutated strains could be easier to spread, harder to inoculate against or both.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere is some available information to suggest some increased transmissibility of B.1.617,\u201d Dr. Maria Van Kerkhove, the technical lead of WHO\u2019s coronavirus response, said\u00a0Monday at a news conference. \u201cEven though there is increased transmissibility demonstrated by some preliminary studies, we need much more information about this virus variant in this lineage in all of the sub lineages, so we need more sequencing, targeted sequencing to be done.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
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More details about the India variant will be released Tuesday. There is no evidence yet that current COVID-19 vaccines are less effective against it.<\/p>\n
India in in the midst of a severe spike in COVID-19 cases. The country is averaging more than 391,000 cases a day over a seven-day period, and the pandemic has already killed 246,000 people in the country. Experts, however, warn those tallies may be severely undercounted and say the country could see up to 1 million COVID-19 deaths by August, The New York Times reported.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s unclear if the B.1.617 variant is linked to the stratospheric case levels. India has suffered from a series of public health crises, and experts have castigated the government\u2019s response to the pandemic.<\/p>\n
A HuffPost Guide To Coronavirus<\/strong><\/p>\n