The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) is planning to study whether the novel coronavirus strain has undergone any kind of structural changes while spreading in the country.
As per reports, a senior scientist of the country’s apex health body said that determining whether the novel coronavirus strain has undergone any kind of mutation or not will help in the development of a potential coronavirus vaccine.
However, the study will begin once the lockdown is lifted as the samples of coronavirus need to be transported from different states and union territories.
As per Global Initiative on Sharing All Influenza Data (GISAID), so far the maximum difference in the novel coronavirus strain in India has been found to be between 0.2 to 0.9 per cent as compared to the strains in other countries.
There are chances that people arriving in India from different countries are bringing various strains of the virus.
Three strains of the virus have been traced in India so far- one was from Wuhan and the other two from Italy and Iran.
The sequence of the coronavirus strain from Iran was similar to that of China.
Meanwhile, the total number of coronavirus cases in India surged to 37336 on Saturday
The death toll due to coronavirus in the country is 1218 so far and the number of active cases is 26167.
A total of 9950 people suffering from coronavirus have either been cured or discharged in the country so far.