New Covid Strain Could Be Infecting People Faster In Maharashtra: Minister

"We suspect that there is a new strain that is affecting people in a shorter duration of time," Maharashtra Health Minister Rajesh Tope told reporters.

A new Covid strain could be infecting people faster in Maharashtra, the state's Health Minister said today on the huge spike in cases alongside concerns over depleting vaccine stocks. He said samples were being tested to verify the theory. "We suspect that there is a new strain that is affecting people in a shorter duration of time," Minister Rajesh Tope told reporters. "Samples have been sent to the National Centre for Disease Control to ascertain this," he added. In a recent interview to NDTV, Shashank Joshi, a member of the COVID-19 task force in Maharashtra, had said a "different strain" was responsible for the rapid rise in cases in the state.