Lahore reports 12 COVID cases of Indian Delta variant after random testing

LAHORE: Punjab health department on Saturday confirmed the presence of 12 cases of Indian Delta variant of COVID-19 in Lahore after it randomly tested samples through genome sequencing, ARY NEWS reported.

According to details shared by the Punjab health department, they randomly picked 28 samples from three hospitals in the city- Services Hospital, Meo Hospital and Jinnah Hospital- and carried out genome sequencing on them.

It turned out, according to the health department, that 12 of the samples from Lahore hospitals carried the Indian variant of COVID-19.

“We are taking measures to deal with it,” the secretary of health said adding that the Indian variant spreads 50 percent more than the other variants.

On Friday, as many as 65 more cases of the Indian Delta variant of the COVID-19 have been reported in Karachi, taking the total cases to 100.

According to the Director of ICCBS Professor Muhammad Iqbal Chaudhary, the National Institute of Virology (NIV) at the University of Karachi had tested 2,062 samples on July 12 and 13.

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Out of 2,062 samples that were tested, 163 turned out to be COVID-19 positive, of these 65 carried the Delta variant, he confirmed.

He further said that besides the Delta variant, two cases of the Beta (South African) variant, two cases of a wild-type variant and 25 cases of unidentified variants were also confirmed.

Furthermore, as many as 20 people were diagnosed with the delta variant of Covid-19 in the Rawalpindi district, said the public relations department of Punjab in a statement on July 11.