Wuhan's L-type coronavirus may have caused more deaths in Gujarat: Experts

The total number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 infection in India neared the 28,000-mark on Monday, while the death toll had topped the 850-mark on this day.

Until Monday morning, India's COVID-19 tally stood at 27,892, which includes 20,835 active cases, 6,185 cured, discharged, or migrated patients, and 872 deaths.

Gujarat has become one of the hotbeds of the coronavirus spread in the state with a high COVID-19 mortality rate. The L-type strain of coronavirus, which has been more prevalent in Wuhan in China, could be the reason why according to reports.

Gujarat Biotechnology Research Centre (GBRC) director, CG Joshi, recently claimed that the highly contagious coronavirus used for genome sequencing recently found it contains the L-type strain after tests.

"Analysis done by scientists abroad has shown that the L-type strain has been dominant where more mortality is reported among coronavirus patients. This strain was found to be more prevalent in Wuhan," CG Joshi, director of GBRC, said.

"The coronavirus sample we collected from a patient for genome sequence contained the L-type strain. This strain has a much higher virulence as compared to the S-strain."

"Variation in coronavirus is in terms of number and percentage of mutations. As per the analysis, the L-type strain is dominant where more mortality is reported. Scientists have earlier found that this strain has caused more deaths," he further added.

The L-type coronavirus strain is said to be more virulent when compared to the S-type one. This could be a big reason why the mortality rate in the state is so high. However, no research has been done so far to confirm this yet, they said.

In India, the state of Maharashtra has emerged as the epicentre of coronavirus spread where cases have crossed the 8,000-mark. According to the Health Ministry, Maharashtra continues to be the worst-hit state with 8,068 cases of which 1,076 patients have recovered and 342 patients have died.

Gujarat now stands in the second spot with 3,301 cases, of which 313 have recovered and 151 people have died.

Meanwhile, Delhi's count stands at 2,918 of which 877 patients have recovered, while 54 patients have lost their lives.