Center for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB) denies any evidence of Clade A3i strain of Coronavirus being more virulent or infectious.

Coimbatore: While the TN government has said that a more infectious and virulent strain of CoronaVirus, 'Clade A3i' is now spreading in the state, the Center for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB), Hyderabad has denied any evidence of the A3i being more or less dangerous than the existing strain of virus.

With the total number of COVID-19 cases crossing the 30,000 mark and the COVID-19 death toll standing at 251 on Saturday, the disease seems to be spreading at a rapid and deadly pace in Tamil Nadu.

Amid this cataclysmic situation, the TN government has released news that a more infectious and virulent mutated strain of the Corona virus, 'Clade A3i' is spreading in Tamilnadu now.

Citing research of Center for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB) as the source, news articles about this strain of Coronavirus being the reason for many deaths across Delhi, TN and Mumbai were published widely in newspapers across the country. The papers further noted that this cluster of virus is different from the one found in China, citing the same research.This distinct cluster of uncharacterised virus population found in India called 'Clade A3i' was also said to not be found in any other part of the world. While most of the information is true, the CCMB has clarified that there is no data yet to conclude whether the new COVID-19 virus strain (Clade A3i) is less or more dangerous. They tweeted, "There is no data for us to yet say that the new virus population (Clade A3i) among Indians is any more or less dangerous than the other virus population (Clade A2) present here."

While the identification of a new strain of Coronavirus remains relevant, the claims about its virulence remain questionable as CCMB has not made any specific reference to it. The CCMB also requested the press to report responsibly. Responding to a tweet posted with a picture of a newspaper article the CCMB replied, "This report has an incorrect inference. We do not have any data to say that the virus is stronger. Please do not spread the wrong news’."

The cluster is expected to have originated in a February 2020 outbreak and from thereon spread to the rest of India. This cluster comprises 41% of all SARS COV2 genomes from Indian samples and 3.5% of global genomes that were submitted into the public domain. Other strains of the virus from other countriesare named as A2a, A3, B and B4.

CCMB also tweeted that sequence analysis predicts that one of the mutations could have possibly made the A3i weaker than the A2a and said that it needed more data to validate that information.