COVID-19 Delta variant still ‘most concerning’, according to WHO expert

COVID-19 Delta variant still ‘most concerning’, according to WHO expert
Thursday 9 September 2021 - 15:04

The World Health Organization announced that the Covid-19 Delta variant remains the “most concerning” coronavirus strain despite the emergence of the Mu variant, and it appears to ‘outperform’ other mutations.

Maria Van Kerkhove, the agency’s technical lead for Covid-19 said in an online Q&A that the delta mutation “is the most concerning because of its increased transmissibility. It is doubly transmissible compared to the original strains, which means it can spread to more people.”

‘The delta variant for me is the one that’s most concerning because of the increased transmissibility,’ Kerkhove said, adding it has at least double the transmissibility of the original ancestral virus that emerged in late 2019.

Since it was first detected in India in October, Delta has rapidly spread to at least 170 countries, including the U.S, Russia, Portugal, Spain and Morocco, quickly becoming the dominant variant in many of those countries according to the international health agency

Doctor Tayeb Hamdi, Vice President of the National Federation of Health said “The Delta variant is rapidly spreading, with 60 percent more transmissibility compared to the British Alpha and a reproduction rate of 8, which means that one person is able to transmit the infection to 8 people.”

He considered that Delta will cause concern in the coming weeks in Morocco, unless another mutation appears that is “more widespread and more dangerous.”

Hamdi explained that Delta constitutes more than 80% of the new cases in Morocco.

“I think in the coming weeks that the delta mutator will be absolutely prevalent in Morocco, and it will make up 99 percent because it easily takes the place of other variants,” he concluded.

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