Karnataka on Thursday reported 364 more Delta (B.1.617.2) variant cases taking the total number to 1,089. The new cases are from samples collected two to four weeks ago.
Delta variant cases in the State that stood at 725 till Wednesday shot up to 1,089 on Thursday. This strain has been labelled a variant-of-concern (VoC) by the WHO because of its ability to evade an immune system response.
Members of the State Genomic Surveillance Committee said the high number of Delta cases being detected from retrospective samples clearly indicate that the second wave in the State was largely driven by this variant.
“All samples sequenced now are Delta cases and this is the trend across the country. Although the detection of more Delta cases from retrospective samples is not a matter of concern now, it is a highly infectious variant and people have to follow all COVID protocols and get vaccinated,” said V. Ravi, who heads the Genomic Surveillance Committee.
Dr. Ravi, who is also the nodal officer for genomic confirmation of SARS-CoV-2 in Karnataka, said: “All vaccines protect against severe illness and death but not against infection. This protection is the same even in Delta variant infected cases and it is important that all eligible people get vaccinated.”
New cases
The State on Thursday reported 2,052 new cases of COVID-19, taking the total to 29,01,247. Of these, 506 cases are from Bengaluru Urban.
With 35 deaths, the toll rose to 36,491. This is apart from 23 deaths of patients due to non-COVID-19 reasons.
As many as 1,332 persons were discharged on Thursday, taking the total recoveries to 28,41,479. The State now has 23,253 active patients.
While the positivity rate for the day touched 1.37%, the Case Fatality Rate touched 1.7%.
As many as 1,48,861 tests were conducted in the last 24 hours, including 1,19,459 RT-PCR tests. With this, the total number of tests rose to 3,83,65,769.
COVID-19 in Karnataka on July 29
Cases: 2.052
Deaths: 35
Discharges: 1,332
Tests: 1,48,861
Vaccinations: 1,21,609
Test Positivity Rate: 1.37%
Case Fatality Rate: 1.70%
