The Manipur chief minister in a press briefing Friday in his latest risk assessment for Covid-19 in the state informed that an initial testing of 20 samples from Manipur in a lab in Hyderabad, 18 were found to be of Delta variant known as B.1.617 in Manipur.
Addressing the alarming rate of Covid positive cases daily in Manipur with no sign in decline of the virus fatality, chief minister N Biren Singh, informed the public that Delta variation has been classified as ‘variant of concern’ by Centres for Diseases Contol and Prevention and that more samples are being tested.
Pointing out misinformation and negative propaganda of Covid-19 Vaccination, N Biren said that he will not spare anyone spreading false rumours and said such individual shall be dealt with strong legal action under the National Disaster Management Act, 2005, he warned.
He also urged all to stay away from politicizing the pandemic and acknowledged that mistakes can happen, but we have to work collectively to overcome the dreaded pandemic adding that “Life is precious”.
N Biren appealed the public to get themselves inoculated at the earliest given the new Delta variant detection.
Wearing of mask, compulsory use of hand sanitizer, and following Covid-19 appropriate behaviour, the chief minister requested everyone to take utmost precautions and follow SOPs laid down by Government.
According to World Health Organizaton (WHO), B.1.617 is more transmissible than contemporary lineages.
The Indian Express in a report said that the Russian made Covid-19 vaccine Sputnik V will soon offer a booster shot, adjusted to work against the Delta variant of coronavirus to other vaccine manufacturers. The booster shot will be offered to other vaccine manufacturers, RDIF stated in a tweet.