India's health ministry on Tuesday alerted the states of Maharashtra, Kerala and Madhya Pradesh on a new variant of COVID-19 called Delta Plus, Trend reports citing Xinhua.
The ministry described Delta Plus as a Variant of Concern (VOC).
"Based on the recent findings of Indian SARS-CoV-2 Genomic Consortia (INSACOG), the health ministry has alerted and advised Maharashtra, Kerala and Madhya Pradesh regarding the Delta Plus variant of COVID-19 being found in some districts in these states," the ministry said in a statement.
"Health secretary has communicated to these three states this variant has been found in genome sequenced samples from Ratnagiri and Jalgaon districts of Maharashtra; Palakkad and Pathanamthitta districts of Kerala; and Bhopal and Shivpuri districts of Madhya Pradesh," the statement added.