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THE World Health Organization (WHO) said the delta variant of the coronavirus that causes COVID-19 has now been detected in 85 countries and remains a worrying variant with evidence showing it can reduce vaccine protection against infection and disease.
The delta variant can cause a substantial loss of protection for individuals who have just had their first injection of the AstraZeneca vaccine. Such variants may increase the risk of hospitalization with COVID-19.
The European Center for Disease Control said the delta variant is likely to be widely circulated throughout the European Union in the summer months and is expected to reach 90% by the end of August.
According to the Times of Israel, the delta variant has caused a new wave of infections in Israel, which may reimpose mandatory indoor face masks to curb its spread.
Residents of seven districts in Sydney, Australia, have been barred from leaving the city to contain an outbreak of new cases caused by the delta known to have originated in a transport worker in the Bondi coastal area.
The variance accounted for more than 20% of new cases in the US in the past two weeks, or double when the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention last reported its prevalence.
Dr. Anthony Fauci, infectious disease expert and President Joe Biden’s chief medical officer, warned that the US could follow the UK’s path, where the variant has become the dominant strain due to its rapid spread among young people. This variant accounted for half of the new infections in Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, Colorado, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Utah and Wyoming.
Experts have repeatedly said vaccination is the best way to fight new variants. They warn that if the virus is left unchecked, new strains could emerge. In Japan, organizers of this summer’s Olympics said they would ban alcohol at the event as a measure to keep them safe and protected during the pandemic, the Guardian reported.
Matches are now set to allow live spectators, with significant limitations. The global tally for the disease caused by the coronavirus hit above 179 million on Wednesday (6/23), according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University, while deaths rose above 3.88 million.
The US continues to lead the world in total cases at 33.6 million, while deaths in the US total 602,618. India is second in total cases with 30 million and third with deaths at 390,660, although those figures are expected to dwindle due to a shortage of tests.
Brazil had the third-highest caseload during the pandemic at 18 million, according to Johns Hopkins data, and second in deaths with 504,717, after crossing 500,000 over the weekend. Mexico has the fourth highest death toll at 231,505 and has recorded 2.5 million cases. In Europe, Russia has overtaken Britain by death.
Russia has recorded 128,719 deaths, while the UK has 128,291, making Russia the country with the fifth-highest death toll in the world and the highest in Europe. China, where the virus was first discovered in late 2019, has had 103,602 confirmed cases and 4,846 deaths, according to its official figures, which are widely considered massively under-reported. [antaranews/photo special]
