Virendra Pandit
New Delhi: As India began to battle against the latest Delta Plus variant (B.1.617.2.1) of SARS-CoV-2 virus causing the Covid-19 pandemic—nearly 50 cases and have so far been reported from a dozen states in the country—the World Health Organization (WHO) has warned that the Delta variant (B.1.617.2), now identified in at least 85 countries, is the most transmissible of the strains so far, and is spreading rapidly among unvaccinated populations.
WHO’s Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on Friday that “I know that globally there is currently a lot of concern about the Delta variant, and the WHO is concerned about it too.”
The WHO had classified the Delta variant, first identified in India in October 2020, as a Variant of Concern (VOC).
It is the most transmissible of the variants identified so far and has been noticed in at least 85 countries. It is also spreading rapidly among unvaccinated populations, he said in Geneva, adding more transmission means more variants and less transmission means fewer variants.
“As some countries ease public health and social measures, we are starting to see increases in transmission around the world.”
He said more cases mean more hospitalizations, further stretching health workers and health systems, which increases the risk of death.
New Covid-19 variants will continue to be reported, but we can prevent the emergence of variants by preventing transmission, he added.
Underlining the danger ahead, in a strong warning, Dr. Maria Van Kerkhove, Covid-19 Technical Lead at the WHO, said the Delta variant is a “dangerous” virus, more transmissible than the Alpha variant, which was itself extremely transmissible across Europe and any country that is entered.
The Delta variant is even more transmissible, she said, adding that the WHO is seeing trajectories of incidents that are almost vertical” in a number of countries around the world.
Many European countries are witnessing a decline in cases. But potential spreaders may emerge from events happening across the region, including large sporting or religious events or even backyard barbecues.
All of these actions have consequences and the Delta variant is spreading readily among unvaccinated people, Kerkhove said.
While some countries have high percentages of vaccinated people, yet the entire population of those nations is not yet vaccinated. Besides, many people have not received their second dose or the full course of dose of the Covid-19vaccines, she said.
These vaccines are “incredibly effective” at preventing severe disease and death, including against the Delta variant.
Kerkhove warned that mass events will have consequences. “We are already starting to see some consequences of these events with increasing transmission again. The Delta variant will make that epidemic curve exponential”.
The Covid-19 Weekly Epidemiological Update released on June 22 by WHO said that globally, the variant Alpha has been reported in 170 countries, territories, or areas, Beta in 119 countries, Gamma in 71 countries, and Delta in 85 countries.
Delta, now reported in 85 countries globally, continues to be reported in new countries across all WHO Regions, 11 of which were newly reported in the past two weeks, the update said.
WHO said the four current Variants of Concern being monitored closely Alpha, Beta, Gamma, and Delta – are widespread and have been detected in all WHO regions.
The Delta variant is significantly more transmissible than the Alpha variant and is expected to become a dominant lineage if current trends continue.