Kolkata: New variant of Covid has been detected in Bengal with 40 odd persons found to be infected with the same. The new variant KP.2 has affected 272 people across the country so far.
A senior official of the state Health department said that in the past four months, several samples were sent for genome sequencing for the purpose of detecting variants and the new one KP.2 has been found in 40 cases. An offshoot of the Omicron strain, KP.2 was first detected in India in early January this year. There was an upsurge of cases in Maharashtra, especially in Pune, so it is also called the Pune variant.
However, doctors have assured that there are no reasons for panic with this new variant as its severity has been found to be comparatively lesser than other variants. “It is infectious but its fatal
effect is less. There is nothing to worry about in the present situation. New Covid sub-variants are expected to emerge in the days to come. Basic sanitisation like washing of hands, using of masks if affected with cough and cold should be followed,” said Dr Narayan Bandyopadhyay. According to city doctors, the symptoms of the KP.2 variant are the same as that of others. It includes trembling in fever, cough and cold and sore throat. There may be leg pain, headache and vomiting.
America is presently leading in KP.2 variant affected cases globally. Since the beginning of Covid making inroads in 2019, health experts have reiterated that Covid will not completely bid goodbye , however its effect will gradually wane.
