INDIA, JUNE 23 — A highly transmissible new variant of COVID-19 called Delta Plus, which health experts worry could evade antibodies induced by previous infection or vaccines, was first detected in India where cases of the strain have been reported in at least three states.
Cases of the Delta Plus variant, which the Indian health ministry has described as a Variant of Concern (VOC), has so far been found in the Indian states of Maharashtra, Kerala and Madhya Pradesh, the Hindustan Times newspaper reported on Wednesday.
As of now, cases of the earlier Delta variant – also first detected in India – has been reported in 92 countries and regions, Maria Van Kerkhove, WHO’s technical lead for COVID-19, said at a news conference in Geneva on Monday.
According to Portugal’s health authorities, cases of the Delta variant now account for over 60 percent of new confirmed COVID-19 cases in the country’s capital Lisbon.
Meanwhile in Russia, about 90 percent of the recent confirmed cases in Moscow have been infected with the Delta variant, Moscow’s mayor Sergei Sobyanin said Friday.
In Britain, which has seen a resurgence of COVID-19 recently, the Delta variant is also spreading rapidly in some areas. Since June 16, the number of new confirmed cases in a single day in Britain has hovered above 9,000 for six consecutive days, prompting England to delay the lifting of restrictions for four weeks until July 19.
Also in the United States, the Delta variant now accounts for about 10 percent of new confirmed COVID-19 cases there, according to data released by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) this month. Officials at the CDC have recently warned that the Delta variant could soon become the dominant strain in the U.S.
WHO warned that the Delta variant could spread rapidly if many countries loosen their public health and social isolation measures too soon and their population is not fully vaccinated against COVID-19. (Reuters)
