Delta the ‘most transmissible’ of variants identified so far: WHO chief

The Delta variant of Covid19 identified in at least 85 countries is the ldquomost transmissiblerdquo of the variants identified so far and is spreading rapidly among unvaccinated populations WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has warnedI know that globally there is currently a lot of concern about the Delta variant and the WHO is concerned about it toordquo DirectorGeneral Ghebreyesus said at a WHO press briefing on FridayThe Delta variant was first identified in IndialdquoDelta is the most transmissible of the variants identified so far has been identified in at least 85 countries and is spreading rapidly among unvaccinated populationsrdquo he said in GenevaHe noted with concern that as some countries ease public health and social measures ldquowe are starting to see increases in transmission around the worldldquoMore cases means more hospitalisations further stretching health workers and health systems which increases the risk of deathrdquo he saidWhile pointing out that new Covid19 variants are expected and will continue to be reported ldquothatrsquos what viruses do they evolve but we can prevent the emergence of variants by preventing transmissionrdquoIn a strong warning Dr Maria Van Kerkhove Covid19 Technical Lead at the WHO said the Delta variant is a ldquodangerous virus and is more transmissible than the Alpha variant which was itself extremely transmissible across Europe and any country that it enteredldquoThe Delta variant is even more transmissiblerdquo she said adding that the WHO is seeing trajectories of incidents that are almost ldquovertical in a number of countries around the worldMany European countries are witnessing a decline in cases but there are a lot of events happening across the region including large sporting or religious events ldquoor even backyard barbecuesrdquoldquoAll of these actions have consequences and the Delta variant is spreading readily among people who are unvaccinatedrdquo Kerkhove saidWhile some countries have high percentages of people who are vaccinated yet the entire population of those nations is not yet vaccinated and many people have not received their second dose or the full course of dose of the Covid19 vaccines she saidKerkhove underlined that Covid19 vaccines are incredibly effectiverdquo at preventing severe disease and death including against the Delta variantldquoThe virus will continue to evolve And right now our public health and social measures work our vaccines workrdquo the diagnostics work and the therapeutics work ldquoBut there may be a time where this virus evolves and these countermeasures dont So we need some kind of movement to pull ourselves together to drive transmission down and keep it downrdquo she saidKerkhove warned that events that are large scale and see huge crowds ldquowill 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 exponentialrdquo she warnedShe urged people to keep themselves safe and make decisions individually about what they need to do every day Theres a lot that all of us want to be doing but theres not a lot that we need to be doing right nowrdquo she saidldquoIts not for the next couple of months that we need to be thinking about this We need to be thinking about it right now because every single decision that we make leaders make has consequences good and badThe WHO chief said itrsquos ldquoquite simplerdquo that more transmission means more variants and less transmission means fewer variantsldquoThat makes it even more urgent that we use all the tools at our disposal to prevent transmission the tailored and consistent use of public health and social measures in combination with equitable vaccinationrdquo Ghebreyesus saidHe said this is the reason why WHO has been saying for at least a year that vaccines must be distributed equitably to protect health workers and the most vulnerableThis week WHO had said that the Delta variant the significantly more transmissible variant of Covid19 continues to be detected in new countries around the worldThe Covid19 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 countriesldquoDelta 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 weeksrdquo the update saidWHO said the four current Variants of Concern being monitored closely ndash Alpha Beta Gamma and Delta are widespread and have been detected in all WHO regionsldquoThe Delta variant is significantly more transmissible than Alpha variant and is expected to become a dominant lineage if current trends continuerdquoThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever