Kathmandu, Nepal, June 22, 2021:It is official that a new mutation of Delta variant of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) has been detected in Nepal. Issuing a press statement on Monday the Ministry of Health and Population (MoHP) has confirmed the detection of a new mutation.
According to the MoHP, the Delta variant (B.1.617.2), the dominant variant of Covid-19, is found active in Nepal. The new variant was detected while conducting tests of different 48 samples collected from across the country in the National Public Health Laboratory.
Following the preliminary identification of new variant, the samples were sent to World Health Organization (WHO) for verification. The Center for Excellence in Genomics, The Institute of Genomics and Integrative Biology (IGIB) and WHO’s Nepal and South East Asian Regional Office have also confirmed the new variant.
It is said that 47 samples were found to have Delta variant (B.1.617.2) and one Alfa variant (B1.1.7) while conducting genomic sequencing of the samples.
According to the Ministry among the delta variant samples, nine of them were found to have K417N mutation which has been named as AY.1 which is said to be active in over 10 countries across the globe including Nepal.
