Overview on Evolving Variants of Novel Coronavirus and Control Measures in India

The new coronavirus has spread to more than 200 nations since it first appeared in China in December 2019. Worldwide, there have been more than 58.3 billion confirmed cases of the coronavirus and more than 64.2 lakh fatalities as of August 2022. In India, more than 4.41 billion confirmed cases and more than 5.27 lakh fatalities have occurred. The outbreak of coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) was caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). In India, the outbreak led to the imposition of a nationwide lockdown, which resulted in a sharp decrease in the number of new confirmed cases. However, in recent months, there has been an increase in new COVID-19 cases in India, with a number of new variants of the virus being detected. The variants found in India are Alpha, Beta, Gamma, Delta, Kappa, Omicron, and B.1.618 (Triple mutant). Although the symptoms of the virus closely align with the common cold, during severe infection, one may experience loss of smell and taste sensation and long-term infection can lead to post-COVID complications. The Indian government has implemented a number of treatment strategies in an effort to control the spread of the disease and reduce the number of fatalities. As the pandemic situation continues to evolve, there is an urgent need to understand the epidemiology of the disease and the characteristics of the virus. In this review, we provide a summary of our current understanding of the novel coronavirus, the mutant novel strains that are prevalent in India, the epidemiology of COVID-19, and the control measures that have been put in place in India and their effectiveness in halting the disease's spread.