WHO has not associated the term 'Indian Variant' with B.1.617 Covid strain: GoI
May 12, 2021
New Delhi [India], May 12 : The Government of India (GoI) on Wednesday clarified that World Health Organization (WHO) has not associated the term "Indian Variant" with the B.1.617 variant of the coronavirus in its weekly epidemiological update on the pandemic.
"This is to clarify that WHO has not associated the term "Indian Variant" with the B.1.617 variant of the coronavirus in its 32-page document. In fact, the word 'Indian' has not been used in its report on the matter," said the Government of India.
It further informed that several media reports have covered the news of WHO classifying B.1.617 as a variant of global concern. "Some of these reports have termed the B.1.617 variant of the coronavirus as an "Indian Variant". These media reports are without any basis, and unfounded," GoI added.
Earlier today, a WHO report had said that the B.1.617 variant of Covid-19 had been detected in sequences uploaded "from 44 countries in all six WHO regions".
"As of 11 May, over 4500 sequences have been uploaded to GISAID (platform of data sharing mechanism for influenza) and assigned to B.1.617 from 44 countries in all six WHO regions, and WHO has received reports of detections from five additional countries," WHO said in its weekly epidemiological update on the pandemic.
