Matters Concerning New Covid Variant A "Developing Story": Centre

Responding to a query about the new Covid variant, foreign ministry spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said it is an issue more for the health authorities.

The matters concerning the new coronavirus variant identified in southern Africa is a "developing story" and the World Health Organization (WHO) has held a meeting on the matter, the External Affairs Ministry said on Friday.

"As regards the issue of the South African variant, this is a developing incident. We just saw a report of and briefing by WHO. I don't have any immediate information on the steps we are taking. It is an issue more for our health authorities. This is a very developing story," MEA spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said at the weekly briefing.

He was responding to a query about the new variant labelled as B.1.1.529 by scientists.

The WHO held a meeting on Friday to discuss the newly-identified COVID-19 variant.