Delta Variant Of Covid-19: Transmission, Fatality, & Everything In Between

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delta variant of COVID 19
Image Source: Times of India, BBC

A new variant of the coronavirus that emerged in India earlier this year, has now spread to other countries like UK, US, Fiji, Singapore and Australia. It was initially named as the “Indian variant,” but the stigma attached to naming variants after their countries of origin has compelled WHO to change its ways of naming them.

Read: As UK Plans To Go Into ‘Tier 5 Lockdown,’ Pakistan Reports First Cases Of UK Covid-19 Variant

The new variant of COVID, which is now rapidly spreading in the UK has been named the Delta variant. According to various reports, it has outdone the Alpha variant, which was first detected in the UK last year, that caused a spike in their COVID positivity. This suggests Delta is more transmissible than Alpha strain.

Public Health England has said this variant is the most dominating strain detected in the UK. However, there is not much data to suggest if it is deadlier than other strains, or whether it infects the kids more than adults.

Here are some other data about Delta as shared by an epidemiologist, Dr. Eric Feigl.

American Scientist, Eric Topol announced on Twitter that even though the Delta Variant of COVID is the worst strain by far, the vaccines effectively work against it.

According to foreign media reports, the Delta variant is better at replicating itself than the previous variants. It also tends to infect household members more rapidly.

The UK’s health secretary said Delta is 40% more infectious than Alpha, and Doherty Institute director Sharon Lewin estimated it’s about 50% more infectious than Alpha, the Conversation reported.

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