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 Dubbed the "delta variant" by the World Health Organization, it is
estimated to be 50% more transmissible than the coronavirus variant
first found in Britain, researchers at Indian SARS-CoV-2 Genetics
Consortium and the National Centre for Disease Control said.
They warned that "prior infections ... and partial vaccination are
insufficient impediments to its spread, as seen in Delhi, and strong
public health response will be needed globally for its containment."
The variant has spread to over 50 countries, including the Britain,
where Prime Minister Boris Johnson has warned that its rapid spread
could affect the reopening of the economy.
India's new cases have steadily declined in large cities over the
past few weeks, but rural areas remain in the grip of a disastrous
second wave of infections.
Experts have warned that the country needs to ramp up the pace of
vaccinations to avoid future surges in infections among its
population of more than 1.3 billion people.
Under fire for a slow vaccine roll-out, Prime Minister Narendra
Modi's government has been in talks with major foreign vaccine
producers to boost supplies even as domestic manufacturers scramble
to boost output.
On Thursday, the United States laid out a plan to share 25 million
surplus COVID-19 vaccine doses with countries including India.
Experts and government officials have said vaccinations are key to
opening up parts of the country that have been under lockdown for
weeks.
Some states such as Delhi and Modi's home state of Gujarat are
gradually loosening restrictions.
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 In Gujarat, authorities allowed
shops and other commercial establishments to
remain open for longer hours from Friday, the
Gujarat government announced.
"With states showing restraint in reopening, the
economic recovery from this virus wave will be
more gradual than last year," said Darren Aw,
Asia Economist at Capital Economics in
Singapore.
"But the slow vaccine rollout means that rapid
reopening would increase the threat of renewed
virus outbreaks, potentially with more
contagious variants." India on
Friday reported 132,364 new coronavirus infections over the last 24
hours, while deaths rose by 2,713 - the lowest in over a month.
The tally of infections stood at 28.6 million, the second highest in
the world, and the death toll at 340,702, the health ministry said.
Experts believe the actual numbers are far higher, as the official
count only registers cases where people have been tested for the
virus, and in India many people have not been tested, especially in
the rural areas, where some two-thirds of Indians live.
GRAPHIC-COVID-19 Global Tracker (https://tmsnrt.rs/3ieWku7)
 (Reporting by Tanvi Mehta In New Delhi, Manas Mishra in Bengaluru
and Sumit Khanna in Ahmedabad; Editing by Clarence Fernandez & Simon
Cameron-Moore)
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