Delta variant to become dominant strain in coming months, warns WHO
New Delhi : The World Health Organisation on Thursday warned that the Delta variant will soon become a dominant strain of coronavirus as it is now present in more than 100 countries.
In its COVID-19 Weekly Epidemiological Update, the WHO said as of June 29, 2021, "96 countries have reported cases of the Delta variant, though this is likely an underestimate as sequencing capacities needed to identify variants are limited. A number of these countries are attributing surges in infections and hospitalisations to this variant."
As it is highly contagious and is growing rapidly, there are good chances that it will soon "surpass other variants and become the dominant variant over the coming months."
The World Health Body noted that in order to contain the virus the measures against coronavirus will have to be followed for a longer duration.
"Although the increased transmissibility of VOCs (Variants of Concern) means that measures may need to be maintained for longer periods of time, particularly in a context of low vaccination coverage, these measures must be targeted, time-bound, reinforced and supported by member states," it added.
Last week, WHO director had said that the Delta variant is highly transmissible among the people who are yet to get vaccinated.
"I know that globally there is currently a lot of concern about the Delta variant, and WHO is concerned about it too. Delta is the most transmissible of the variants identified so far... spreading rapidly among unvaccinated populations," Mr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus had said.
As per latest figures, cases of the Alpha variant have been reported in 172 countries, territories or areas, Beta in 120 countries (one new country), Gamma in 72 countries (one new country) and Delta in 96 countries (11 new countries).
