Delta variant, a. k.a B.1.617.2, is 50 percent more contagious: UK study

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It was once called B.1.617.2, then it was referred to in some reports as the “India variant” offending many, and has now been renamed Delta. Call it what you may, but it is this Coronavirus variant of concern (VoC) that was first discovered in India, that is more “likely to lead to hospitalisations than the Alpha variant first detected in Kent”, according to a report from Public Health England, reported in the Guardian. It was this variant that was also reported to have caused the maximum havoc in Delhi, Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Odisha and Telangana, during the second wave, and was also found in other states.

Even as the positivity rate is reported to be below 10 per cent for more than a week now, experts have warned that India cannot take it easy just now, as many big challenges are still unfolding in the wake of the second wave of Covid-19.

According to the Guardian report the Delta variant, is “accounting for up to 75% of new coronavirus cases” in the UK and is “believed to be more transmissible than the Alpha variant, and somewhat more resistant to Covid vaccines, particularly after just one dose.” The analysis of “38,805 sequenced cases in England “revealed that the Delta variant was “associated with a 2.61 times higher risk of hospitalisation”. According to epidemiologists in the UK, if the “trend continues and case numbers continue to rise quickly, that would point to a larger number of people being seriously affected as this variant continues to replace the alpha variant over coming weeks.” The study by scientists of the Indian SARS COV2 Genomic Consortia and the National Centre for Disease Control is investigating the cause of the second wave. It concluded that the Delta variant is 50 per cent more contagious than the Alpha strain.

Meanwhile, according to health ministry data, India’s active caseload is now at 16,35,993. India reported around 1.32 lakh new cases in the past 24 hours, and the daily positivity rate is at 6.38%. The government has claimed that 22.41 crore vaccine doses have been administered under Nationwide Vaccination Drive so far. The following graph from covid19india.org shows the