The Indian variant of COVID-19, “variant of concern”, has been found in 44 countries worldwide, the World Health Organisation said on Wednesday. The variant is the reason behind the exponential rise in cases of COVID-19 in India, which is registering over 300,000 infections daily. 

The B.1.617 variant of coronavirus was first found in India in October last year and now it has been detected in over 4,500 samples uploaded to an open-access database “from 44 countries in all six WHO regions”.

The health organisation, in its weekly epidemiological update on the pandemic, said that it has “received reports of detections from five additional countries.”

Also Read | WHO warns against use of Ivermectin for COVID-19 patients

Britain has reported the largest number of COVID-19 cases caused by the B.1.617 variant, outside India. 

The WHO’s update comes a couple of days after it said that it is the “variant of concern.” B.1.617 counts three so-called sub-lineages with slightly different mutations and characteristics, reports AFP. 

The Indian variant is now added to the list of COVID variants, which has been detected in Britain, Brazil and South Africa.

Also Read | Non-hospitalised COVID patients less likely to see serious long-term effects: Study

The variants are seen as more dangerous than the original version of the virus because they are either being more transmissible, deadly or able to get past some vaccine protections.

The Indian COVID variant appears to be transmitted more easily than the original coronavirus, the WHO explained, and added that it has contributed to  “rapid increases in prevalence in multiple countries”.

It stressed, though, that “real-world impacts” on the effectiveness of vaccines against the variant for instance “may be limited”.

Also Read | 5 tips to manage your mental health during COVID-19 Pandemic

WHO said the spread of B.1.617, alongside other more transmittable variants, appeared to be one of several factors fuelling India’s dramatic surge in new cases and deaths.

India — a country of 1.3 billion people — is the world’s second-most infected after the United States with nearly 23 million Covid-19 cases, and is currently recording close to 4,000 deaths each day.

The new surge in cases has ravaged major cities, including the capital New Delhi and financial hub Mumbai, pushing hospitals to breaking point and leading to severe shortages in oxygen and beds.