Government of India Objects on B.1.617 Variant Being Called the Indian Variant

GG News Bureau

New Delhi, 12th May. The Central Government has strongly objected to the media reports calling the new variant of Corona as Indian. The government said that the World Health Organization has also not given this name.

The Union Ministry of Health has rejected media reports which claim that WHO has said that Indian variants of Corona have been found in 44 countries of the world. While objecting to the name ‘Indian variant’, the government said that the World Health Organization has not mentioned this variant as ‘Indian variant’.

Several media reports have covered the news of the World Health Organisation (WHO) classifying B.1.617 as a variant of global concern. Some of these reports have termed the B.1.617 variant of the corona virus as an “Indian Variant”.

On Wednesday, the central government said that the World Health Organization has not identified the double mutant strain, B.1.617 form of coronavirus, as ‘Indian variant’ in its document. The double mutant virus was first detected on October 5, 2020. However, it did not have such a widespread impact in India at that time.