A day after National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) announced the detection of the Odisha’s its first case of COVID-19 Delta Plus variant in Deogarh district, the Odisha government has deputed a team of epidemiologists for further examination of health profile of the 62-year-old man and contact tracing of the variant-affected sexagenarian.

The infected man had contracted the variant in April. The infectivity period of the contagious variant slipped away. There is no immediate cause of worry. Nonetheless, as a precautionary measure the epidemiologists have been sent to Deogarh mainly to trace the contacts of the man and vaccinate the people who had come in contact with variant-infected, said Director, Health Services, Bijay Mohapatra.

While the detection of the highly infectious Delta Plus variant, also described as the ”variant of concern” by health experts, has begun to fuel scare of spread of the disease in the western Odisha district, the State’s health authorities today maintained that the epidemiologists have sent to the district to ensure the aggressive contract tracing and keep the patient isolated to prevent the infection from spreading further.

“The infected people besides his family members are being kept under close surveillance for at least six weeks. The Delta-infected man was vaccinated on 30 March and has not developed health complications despite contracting the variant virus. The health authorities are laying priority on administering vaccine doses on his contacts, if they are inoculated”, said Director, Health Services, Mohapatra.

His sample was sent for genome sequencing on 24 April. He had contracted the virus from another infected person and was found to be asymptomatic. Presently, he is in perfect health condition after recovery from COVID infection.

There is no reason for getting panicky as a considerable period has elapsed since the man contracted the Delta plus variant. The infectivity period of the variant-hit man is already over. The travel history of the man is being ascertained. The state administration will adopt its time-tested COVID management formula of testing, treatment and vaccination also for Delta Plus variant. It has already been found that Covaxin and Covishield are quite effective against this variant. So, those who might have come in contact with the infected man will be vaccinated on a war footing, Mohapatra noted.

Over 700 samples were sent for genome sequence since May first week and none of those contained new variants, he added.