No foreign strain of virus found in Amravati, Yavatmal: Maha govt

New strains of coronavirus foundin the UK, South Africa and Brazil have not been detected inAmravati, Yavatmal and Satara districts of Maharashtra wherecases have spiked recently, the state government said onFriday.

In view of increase in cases in Western Maharashtra'sPune, Sarata districts and Amravati and Yavatmal in Vidarbharegion, genome sequencing of coronavirus samples from theseareas was carried out, the health department said.

Four samples each from Satara, Yavatmal and Amravatiwere tested at B J Medical College laboratory in Pune. Nomutation similar to that found in new strains in the UK, SouthAfrica or Brazil was observed, it said in a statement.

Similarly, no mutation in genome was found in 12samples form Pune district, it said.

However, some more samples from Amravati and Yavatmalhave been sent for genome testing to the Pune-based NationalInstitute of Virology and National Centre for Cell Science,it said.

On Thursday, an official had said that researchers hadfound two new mutations in coronavirus samples from Amravatiand Yavatmal districts, but no foreign strain of virus wasfound.

These new mutations were characterized by the virus'ability to escape neutralizing antibodies in the host person'sbody, said Dr Rajesh Karyekarte, head of the Department ofMicrobiology at the state-run B J Medical College in Pune.

Dr Subhash Salunke, technical adviser to theMaharashtra government on the COVID-19 outbreak, said a virusmutation found in Amaravati seemed to be more infectious.

On Thursday, Maharashtra recorded more than 5,000 newcases after a gap of 75 days.