A new coronavirus variant has been detected by the National Institute of Virology (NIV) in Pune in two people travelling from Brazil. The variant - B.1.1.28.2 - causes more severe symptoms and requires more antibodies to fight it, reported NDTV, citing sources at NIV.

The strain has also been detected among travelers from UK, said the report quoted by IBNS.

No sample taken from India has shown the presence of this variant, the scientists asserted, according to the report.

There are 12,200 variants of concern in the entire country but their presence is negligible compared to Delta variant which wreaked havoc in the second wave.

The Delta variant - B.1.617.2 strain -  is more infectious than the Alpha variant found first in Kent, UK, scientists at SARS COV2 Genomic Consortia and the National Centre for Disease Control, said the report.

Of the 29,000 Covid case samples sequenced, the B.1.617 has been found in 8,900 samples while the Delta variant was detected in 1,000 samples, according to the report.(SAM)