Union Health Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan on Thursday acknowledged that the double mutant variant of coronavirus, known as the B.1.617 or the Indian variant, was behind the surge in Covid-19 cases witnessed in the country over the past one and a half months.
Briefing the press after chairing a meeting via video conferencing with health ministers of Karnataka, Maharashtra, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Rajasthan and Delhi on the prevailing Covid-19 situation there, Vardhan said data from genome sequencing suggests the spread of the B.1.617 strain of coronavirus was responsible for the unprecedented surge in Covid-19 cases.