With the threat of the new Delta and Delta Plus variants of COVID-19 that have hit some countries, looming large over India, health experts talk about the likely impact here. Though the state government has come up with new directives, only time will tell the extent of impact of the new variants which are expected to hit in the next three to four weeks.

Dr Wiqar Shaikh, professor of Medicine, Grant Medical College and Sir JJ Group of Hospitals, has expressed serious concerns regarding a report in the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) on June 25, which said that half of the adults infected in Israel in a fresh outbreak of the Delta variant had  received two doses of the Pfizer vaccine. This is alarming, he said. Dr Shaikh said that the report suggested that approximately 90 per cent of the new COVID-19 infections were caused by the Delta variant. This has prompted the Israeli government to reimpose the requirement of masks and the imposition of fresh curbs is being reassessed. Israel had around 10 new cases of COVID-19 per day for most of June 2021, which jumped to more than 200 cases per day last week.