India has no case of Lambda COVID-19 variant so far, says report

Lambda, labelled by the World Health Organisation (WHO) as a 'variant of interest', has not been reported in India so far.

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New Delhi: Amid concerns of the Lambda variant of COVID-19 being identified in over 30 countries in the past four weeks, India can breathe a sigh of relief for now. Lambda, described by the World Health Organisation (WHO) as a 'variant of interest', has not been found in India so far, ANI reported.  Dr Pragya Yadav, head of the National Institute of Virology`s Maximum Containment Facility, confirming the same to the news agency said, “So far India has not reported any case of lambda variant.”

Further, Yadav said that this new strain is “highly transmissible”. “Lambda variant has been detected in 30 countries. Lambda variant was first reported from Peru, in December 2020. The number of cases reported from this variant is increasing in different countries, indicating it to be highly transmissible. A recent study revealed that the lambda variant is susceptible to mRNA vaccine-elicited antibodies and convalescent serum was able to neutralize the lambda variant,” she told the news agency. 

On June 14, Lambda strain, previously known as C.37, was identified by (WHO) as the seventh and newest one. WHO said, "Lambda has been associated with substantive rates of community transmission in multiple countries, with rising prevalence over time concurrent with increased COVID-19 incidence". 

Lambda, detected in the UK, has been declared much more dangerous than the Delta variant by the UK Health Ministry. 

The UK Health Ministry on Monday (July 5) tweeted, "The Lambda strain was reported to have originated from Peru, the country with the highest mortality rate in the world."

Lambda, first found in Peru, accounts for nearly 82 percent of the coronavirus case samples reported during May and June, Euro News reported citing the Pan American Health Organisation (PAHO). 

(With agency inputs)