The World Health Organization on Wednesday said that a variant of Covid-19 that is behind India's devastating second wave has been found in dozens of countries all over the world.
The UN health agency said the B.1.617 variant of Covid-19, first found in India in October, had been detected in more than 4,500 samples uploaded to an open-access database "from 44 countries in all six WHO regions".
Also Read: Ask The Doctor | How to increase O2 levels if there's no oxygen cylinder available
Earlier this week, the WHO declared B.1.617 as a "variant of concern". It was therefore added to the list containing three other variants of Covid-19 -- those first detected in Britain, Brazil and South Africa.
The world body explained on Wednesday that B.1.617 was added to the list because it appears to be transmitting more easily than the original virus.
Also Read | 4,205 Covid-19 deaths in India, highest ever in 24 hours