The latest data, posted by Global Initiative on Sharing Avian Flu Data (GISAID) on the variants of novel coronavirus in Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Karnataka, shows that B.1.617 represented in about 50% cases registered during March, while B.1.1.7 showed up in about 10% cases. The percentage of N440K came down to less than 10% from the peak of about 70% in February. At the same time, the presence of B.1 lineage went up to around 10 or 12% during March.
Major variants like B.1.1.7, B.1 and N440K were also noticed in significant numbers. Other variants in circulation since March 2020 made up 10%.
Commenting on the decline of N440K variant in Telangana and Andhra Pradesh, former CCMB director Dr Rakesh Kumar Mishra said: “The N440K variant is diminishing and likely to disappear soon”.