<h1 class="ql-align-center">C.1.2 Corona Virus Variant</h1> <h2>Context:</h2> <ul><li>Recently, the World Health Organisation (WHO)&nbsp;&nbsp;has added&nbsp;a new variant of Covid -19 in the list of Variants of Interest (VOI) and named it C.1.2.</li></ul> <h2>About:</h2> <ul><li>According to INSACOG (Indian SARS Cov 2 Genomics Consortium), India has so far not seen C.1.2, and the Delta variant&nbsp;and its sub-lineages continue to be the main&nbsp;Variants of Concern (VOC).</li></ul> <ul><li>This variant first detected in May 2021, now has scientists' attention as the mutations within its genome are similar to those seen in other variants of COVID-19 such as Delta.&nbsp;</li></ul> <ul><li>C.1.2 has spread to the majority of the provinces in South Africa and in seven other countries spanning Africa, Europe, Asia, and Oceania, as per the National Institute for Communicable Diseases in South Africa</li></ul> <ul><li>C.1.2 is a sub-lineage of the C.1 variant described in South Africa&nbsp;but did not spread globally.</li></ul> <h2>Variants of Interest (VOI):</h2> <ul><li>A variant is placed in the VOI list if it is seen to have&nbsp;certain “genetic changes that are predicted&nbsp;such as transmissibility, disease severity, immune escape, diagnostic or therapeutic escape”.</li></ul> <ul><li>To be added to the VOI list, a variant must also be&nbsp;“identified to cause significant community transmission or multiple Covid-19 clusters in multiple countries”,&nbsp;and suggest “an emerging risk to global public health”.</li></ul> <h2>Variants of Concern (VOC):</h2> <ul><li>A VOI can become a VOC if it is demonstrated to be&nbsp;associated with an increase in transmissibility or virulence, or with a&nbsp;“decrease in the effectiveness of public health and social measures&nbsp;or available diagnostics, vaccines, and therapeutics”.</li></ul> <ul><li>Currently,&nbsp;four variants&nbsp;of the coronavirus are designated as variants of concern:</li></ul> <ul><li class="ql-indent-1">Alpha&nbsp;(lineage B.1.1.7, the so-called ‘UK variant’)</li><li class="ql-indent-1">Beta&nbsp;(lineage B.1.351, ‘South Africa variant’)</li><li class="ql-indent-1">Gamma&nbsp;(lineage P.1, ‘Brazil variant’)</li><li class="ql-indent-1">Delta (lineage B.1.617.2).</li></ul>