covid variants : delta, kappa, alpha, beta, gamma, epsilon and theta

[kaninabuchaojibye]

WHO assigns labels to Covid variants, strain first found in India to be called ‘Delta’
www.indiatoday.in

[REPRESENTATIVE IMAGE] File photo of artists in Bengal's Howrah painting on the road to create awareness on Covid-19 (Photo Credits: PTI)

• WHO had dubbed B.1.617 strain of Covid-19 a 'variant of global concern'
• In an advisory to social media platforms, Centre objected to use of term 'Indian variant'
• B.1.617.1 variant found in India in October of last year has been labelled 'Kappa'

In a bid to address widespread confusion in this regard, the WHO has assigned simple labels to key variants of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes Covid-19. The World Health Organisation (WHO) settled on letters of the Greek alphabet to refer to the variants discovered in different parts of the world since the beginning of the pandemic.

For B.1.617.2, the Covid-19 variant first discovered in India in October 2020, the WHO has assigned the name 'Delta'. This means that the variant will now be referred to as the 'Delta' strain of coronavirus.

Another strain (B.1.617.1) first found in India in October of last year, has been labelled 'Kappa'.

Earlier this month, the Government of India issued an advisory to social media platforms asking them to remove all content referring to the B.1.617.2 strain as the 'Indian variant'. Similar directions were issued by authorities in Singapore over references to the 'Singapore variant' of the virus on social media.

In a statement issued in this regard, the government said earlier this month, "This is to clarify that WHO (/topic/who) has not associated the term “Indian Variant" with the B.1.617 variant (/topic/b1617-variant) of the coronavirus in its 32-page document. In fact, the word ‘Indian’ has not been used in its report on the matter."

Ministers had even accused opposition leaders of 'defaming' the country by referring to the highly-transmissible strain as the 'Indian variant'. It was later pointed out that even the government made mention of the variant as 'Indian double mutant strain' in an affidavit filed in the Supreme Court.

The WHO had clarified in a tweet on May 12 that it does not identify viruses or variants with names of the countries they are first reported from. "We refer to them by their scientific names and request all to do the same for consistency," the WHO added.

How were labels chosen?​

The labels were chosen by WHO following wide consultation and a review of various potential naming systems.

In fact, the WHO convened an expert group of partners from around the world for this purpose. This group included individuals specialising in existing naming systems, nomenclature and virus taxonomic experts, researchers and national authorities.

While the strain first found in India in October of last year has been labelled 'Delta', the one discovered in the UK in September 2020 has been labelled 'Alpha' and the one found in South Africa in May of last year 'Beta'.

The WHO has labelled the strain found in Brazil in November 2020 as 'Gamma',
and the one discovered in the US in March of last year as 'Epsilon'.

Similarly, the strain found in the Philippines in January of this year has been labelled 'Theta'.

 

[mojito]

Is all Greek to me.

 

[tanwahtiu]

Time to fuck the West and create Asian styles.

1. Fuck Indian Cheats, FIC virus,
2. ..... the rest can ignore it...

Fuck the West...

 

[Leongsam]

Not to worry because the variants are of no concern whatsoever.

 

[Rogue Trader]

Only 24 Greek alphabets. What happens when there are more than 24 variants?

 

[Testing]

What are we having here?

Option contracts for COVID-19?

 

[mojito]

Only 24 Greek alphabets. What happens when there are more than 24 variants?

Like frat houses lor they have prefix and suffix so a lot to perm mutate.

 

[Hanslesley73]

WHO assigns labels to Covid variants, strain first found in India to be called ‘Delta’
www.indiatoday.in

[REPRESENTATIVE IMAGE] File photo of artists in Bengal's Howrah painting on the road to create awareness on Covid-19 (Photo Credits: PTI)

• WHO had dubbed B.1.617 strain of Covid-19 a 'variant of global concern'
• In an advisory to social media platforms, Centre objected to use of term 'Indian variant'
• B.1.617.1 variant found in India in October of last year has been labelled 'Kappa'

In a bid to address widespread confusion in this regard, the WHO has assigned simple labels to key variants of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes Covid-19. The World Health Organisation (WHO) settled on letters of the Greek alphabet to refer to the variants discovered in different parts of the world since the beginning of the pandemic.

For B.1.617.2, the Covid-19 variant first discovered in India in October 2020, the WHO has assigned the name 'Delta'. This means that the variant will now be referred to as the 'Delta' strain of coronavirus.

Another strain (B.1.617.1) first found in India in October of last year, has been labelled 'Kappa'.

Earlier this month, the Government of India issued an advisory to social media platforms asking them to remove all content referring to the B.1.617.2 strain as the 'Indian variant'. Similar directions were issued by authorities in Singapore over references to the 'Singapore variant' of the virus on social media.

In a statement issued in this regard, the government said earlier this month, "This is to clarify that WHO (/topic/who) has not associated the term “Indian Variant" with the B.1.617 variant (/topic/b1617-variant) of the coronavirus in its 32-page document. In fact, the word ‘Indian’ has not been used in its report on the matter."

Ministers had even accused opposition leaders of 'defaming' the country by referring to the highly-transmissible strain as the 'Indian variant'. It was later pointed out that even the government made mention of the variant as 'Indian double mutant strain' in an affidavit filed in the Supreme Court.

The WHO had clarified in a tweet on May 12 that it does not identify viruses or variants with names of the countries they are first reported from. "We refer to them by their scientific names and request all to do the same for consistency," the WHO added.

How were labels chosen?​

The labels were chosen by WHO following wide consultation and a review of various potential naming systems.

In fact, the WHO convened an expert group of partners from around the world for this purpose. This group included individuals specialising in existing naming systems, nomenclature and virus taxonomic experts, researchers and national authorities.

While the strain first found in India in October of last year has been labelled 'Delta', the one discovered in the UK in September 2020 has been labelled 'Alpha' and the one found in South Africa in May of last year 'Beta'.

The WHO has labelled the strain found in Brazil in November 2020 as 'Gamma',
and the one discovered in the US in March of last year as 'Epsilon'.

Similarly, the strain found in the Philippines in January of this year has been labelled 'Theta'.

This Indian news article as usual twisted n turned their words around.
I quote from this Indian news article,’Government of India issued an advisory to social media platforms asking them to remove all content referring to the B.1.617.2 strain as the 'Indian variant'. Similar directions were issued by authorities in Singapore over references to the 'Singapore variant' of the virus on social media.’ Fact - there is no Singapore variant, it was a blatant lie created by India to shift blame and tarnish Singapore reputation. There is, however, an Indian virulent covid variant -B16172, a covid mutation formed from India’s habit of eating cow dung, drink cow piss n bathe in bacterial infested river full of cow/human dead bodies, etc.

 

[laksaboy]

People still listen to the WHO? When Tedros is still in charge?

 

[Hypocrite-The]

People still listen to the WHO? When Tedros is still in charge?

Have to add in the chicons are now in charge of the USA thanks to Beijing Biden n the left

 

[Hypocrite-The]

Not to worry because the variants are of no concern whatsoever.

This article says it well. The virus is mutating to be less lethal. N soon to be like a common cold. So why are the announcements made in a way that equates getting infected equals a death sentence? N also the fact that less people are critically ill. N 60k plus infected n 33 deaths. That is 0.5%. N the last fatality was 95 yo with critical illness. Just shows how politicised this virus has become.

Commentary: We have to live with an endemic COVID-19. Here's what that could look like
We should be prepared to live in a world where the majority are vaccinated and testing is quicker, says infectious disease expert Dr Leong Hoe Nam.

People wearing face masks cross a road amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak in Singapore
People wearing face masks cross a road amid the COVID-19 outbreak in Singapore on May 14, 2021. (File photo: Reuters/Caroline Chia)
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SINGAPORE: We first heard rumblings of a novel virus in Wuhan in October 2019. People were hospitalised with pneumonia a few months later.

The first case of the severe acute respiratory syndrome now known as SARS-CoV-2 was finally announced by the World Health Organization (WHO) on Dec 31, 2019 and was only identified as COVID-19 weeks later.

Since then, the virus has been doing what all viruses are programmed to do: Survive by adapting to their human hosts, almost flawlessly.

READ: WHO classifies B1617 from India as COVID-19 variant of global concern
In less than 12 months, it arguably created the ultimate mutant, the B1617 strain first detected in India and has since been reported in 53 territories according to WHO.

This in a way signals to us an important turning point in our story: The endemic strain is here. On Friday (May 28), co-chair of the COVID-19 multi-ministry task force, Lawrence Wong alluded to this possibility too saying that the Government is planning for a scenario where we live with the virus.

Residents of a public housing estate queue up for their mandatory coronavirus disease (COVID-19) sw
FILE PHOTO: Residents of a public housing estate queue up for their mandatory coronavirus disease (COVID-19) swab tests after some residents were tested positive for the virus, in Singapore May 21, 2021. REUTERS/Edgar Su
Endemics have a constant presence in a specific location and can lead to outbreaks that happen anywhere. Four other coronaviruses already co-exist as common colds and we have come to live with them.

The question before us now is how did the B1617 strain become so successful at spreading across continents and can we live harmoniously with it?

ADAPTING BY MUTATING

The primary weapon of a virus is its genes. It uses single-stranded ribonucleic acid (RNA) for coding. RNA gives the virus up to a thousand times more opportunities to mutate than human genes which are coded with DNA.

And being single-stranded, there is no complementary strand to keep accidental mutations in check.

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Once the virus enters the human body, there are plenty of opportunities for it to mutate. Scientists estimate there could be between 1 billion and 100 billion copies of the virus in just one human body.

That is a staggering figure - at more than 10 times the number of people living on the planet. Most mutations are harmful to the virus itself. Many are neutral and provide no benefits to the virus, but some help its transmission and support its ability to survive.

The latest B1617 mutant benefits the virus in three distinct ways. The virus is more easily transmitted with higher viral loads which results in a greater total number of viral particles per cough.

Second, it is more infectious and can bind its targeted ACE2 protein receptor more easily. Third, it is better at evading the immune system although it is still unclear how much of a milder strain it has mutated into.

So, the B1617 is in the lead. It is replacing existing strains. Countries exposed to this mutant have reported increasing prevalence of this new strain, from Singapore to Nepal, Australia and the United Kingdom.

People wearing face masks in Singapore - Phase 2 (Heightened Alert) of the COVID-19 outbreak (2)
People wearing face masks while crossing a road on May 24, 2021, amid the COVID-19 outbreak in Singapore. (File photo: Marcus Mark Ramos)
But precisely because the world answers the virus challenge with a disorganised mix of lockdowns, masks and social distancing, the mutation is able to break through these.

Even if the B1617 strain does not spread further, other strains – even though they are unrelated – could mutate in the same way, under evolutionary pressures.

This is called convergent evolution, where viruses from different strains adapt the same beneficial mutations without these strains ever meeting.

VACCINES – THE GOOD, THE BAD, THE UGLY

Just as most of the world’s vaccine manufacturers focused on developing immunity against the spike protein - the part of the virus which attaches to receptors on human cells and gains entry inside - the virus adapted by mutating the same protein, evading the immune response triggered by the vaccines.

The good news is that the mRNA vaccines produced by Pfizer and Moderna are highly effective against the original COVID-19. The bad news is that their 94 to 95 per cent efficacy falls to 70 to 75 per cent against the B1617 strain.

But the illness has been milder in those who have fallen sick from this “ultimate mutant”, transforming a deadly infection into a common cold. This was seen in the mild or asymptomatic people who fell sick in the Tan Tock Seng Hospital cluster despite having been vaccinated.

READ: Commentary: Some pain even as Singapore rises to the challenge of tighter COVID-19 measures
Only one elderly patient required the very transient use of oxygen. So one could say that the SARS-CoV-2 only had bark without bite because of vaccination.

Which is why vaccinations must go on. The hope of every vaccine is to achieve “sterilising immunity” - when a vaccine prevents infection effectively because the immune system stops the virus from entering cells and replicating. But no vaccine has ever achieved that.

Kolam Ayer CC Minmed Vaccination Centre (8)
The COVID-19 vaccine being administered at Kolam Ayer Community Club, Singapore, on Apr 21, 2021. (Photo: Marcus Mark Ramos)
Breakthrough failures occur, constantly, in varying proportions but the impact of these failures diminishes with rising herd immunity.

The classic example is the measles vaccine, where herd immunity of greater than 90 per cent minimised breakthrough failures. Pockets of infection occur when the highly transmissible measles virus infects a community with low herd immunity, resulting in significant deaths.

Amidst the global vaccine shortage, we should therefore try and use the best available vaccine and achieve a high vaccine coverage of at least 70 to 90 per cent, especially in the face of mutants which render the vaccines less effective.

In a census continually updated, the US Center for Disease Control (CDC) reported only 1,949 hospitalised or fatal, vaccine breakthrough cases among 123 million fully vaccinated people. This equates to 0.002 per cent risk of hospitalisation or death.

READ: Commentary: Why is COVID-19 surging in the world’s most vaccinated country?
Even overestimated at 10 times higher risk of breakthrough infections with mutants, the burden on the hospitals and healthcare system would still be dramatically reduced.

Among vaccinated individuals, transmission to others has been significantly reduced. A research paper by British doctors and yet to be published has estimated the chances of vaccinated people transmitting the virus to members of their household were reduced by more than half, or 54 per cent, while the likelihood of it being transmitted to healthcare workers was cut by 92 per cent, 14 days after the second dose.

It is worth noting that this study was done between December 2020 and March 2021 involving 144,000 healthcare workers and their families – before the B1617 variant changed things significantly.

But the data shows that vaccinations do convert a deadly disease to a mild illness, reducing the need for hospitalisation, cutting the burden on healthcare systems and slowing the spread of infection across highly vaccinated communities.

READ: Singapore accelerates national COVID-19 vaccination programme, students the next group to be inoculated
Crucially, it shows vaccines are an integral strategy in living with an endemic virus. With the threat of failing immunity over time, and the virus adapting further, all vaccinated people must be prepared for a third booster shot to top up their immunity.

This may be a painful proposition but if we want to live with the virus, it’s a necessary step.

Science is rushing to answer the question if the third dose is best with the same or different technology. The possibility of a third dose guided by our understanding of the level of protection provided by antibodies may be a reality in future.

In some individuals, there may be even a requirement for repeated annual doses, much like how we get flu shots annually.

(Are COVID-19 vaccines still effective against new variants? And could these increase the risk of reinfection? Listen to the full conversation with Profs David Matchar and Gavin Smith on on CNA's Heart of the Matter podcast.)

WHAT ENDEMIC LIVING LOOKS LIKE

The future of endemic living with COVID-19 is tenable but it means we will need to accept and learn to live with the virus.

Apart from vaccinations, masks must persist too. Data clearly shows they reduce transmission but people must give up frivolous cosmetic masks and replace them with certified masks known to be effective.

Testing is another big plank in living with an endemic virus. Healthcare providers at family clinics must offer rapid antigen testing recommended and endorsed by the WHO. This is a cheaper, more easily administered alternative, with a much shorter 15-minute turnaround time.

The strength of these tests is their excellent sensitivity and their ability to identify COVID-19 positive individuals in the first five days of illness when infectiousness is highest.

READ: Fashionable masks may look good - but how can you tell if they protect against COVID-19?
According to the American CDC, antigen tests - when done correctly - approximate the gold standard PCR tests, in sensitivity and specificity, in the first five days of illness - especially when done in symptomatic persons. Similar home-care kits are available in countries such as the US and the United Kingdom.

These tests have limitations as a confirmatory test, a role better served by polymerase chain reaction, or PCR tests, which detect fragments of virus even after you are no longer infected.

We should expect that, in future, rapid antigen testing will be done at each individual’s home - either with a swab or a nasal rinse, or a saliva test kit, prior to leaving home, which is the holy grail.

A staff member demonstrates the usage of Breathonix breathalyzer test kit in Singapore
Breathonix co-founder Wayne Wee demonstrates the use of the BreFence Go COVID-19 breath test system. (Photo: Reuters)
This can be done when a person is showing symptoms, or a few times a week, at least.

These could also render those highly visible thermometer readers less necessary, if people carry their results with them before they head out.

Care of COVID-19 patients will improve with better medical technologies, and perhaps oral anti-viral treatments and highly effective, broadly neutralising, monoclonal antibodies that can kill the virus.

 

[bobby]

Liddat won't the Greeks feel stigmatised as the covid is now associated with them ?

 

[laksaboy]

Politics is more important than health and honesty. Sinkies should understand this better than anyone else.

 

[capamerica]

Not to worry because the variants are of no concern whatsoever.

Wrong. Again. Call it 0 for 289 tries, all failed

https://www.forbes.com/sites/victor...y-more-deadly-says-new-study/?sh=6411684a6a1e

U.K. Coronavirus Variant Is Significantly More Deadly, Says New Study​

Victoria Forster
Contributor
Health


The B.1.1.7 coronavirus variant "UK variant" is more deadly as well as more transmissible, according ... [+]
GETTY
The U.K. coronavirus variant known as B.1.1.7 is not only more transmissible, but also more deadly than other coronavirus variants, according to a new study published today.
B.1.1.7 was first identified in the U.K. last fall and by December it was detected in several other countries including the U.S. The variant is known to be substantially more transmissible than other SARS-CoV2 coronavirus lineages and quickly took over as the dominant variant in the U.K., late last year, sparking off a damaging and deadly second wave which leaves the U.K. currently second in the world for the most Covid-19 deaths per 100,000 people.

Scientists had suspected that B.1.1.7 might be more deadly, as well as more transmissible following spectacularly high numbers of Covid-19 deaths in the U.K. during the second wave this winter, which saw the U.K’s worst daily death total in January claim over 1,800 lives. But, the new study published in the journal Nature, led by researchers at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine all but confirms that this correlation is genuine.
The study looked at viral genetics data from almost 5,000 people in the U.K. who died from Covid-19, with two-thirds of those being confirmed to have the B.1.1.7 variant. It found that people who were infected with B.1.1.7 had a 55% higher risk of dying within 28 days of being tested positive for Covid-19.
PROMOTED



“England has suffered an enormous toll from B.1.1.7 in the last few months, with 42,000 COVID-19 deaths in January and February 2021 alone,” said Nick Davies, PhD, lead author from LSHTM’s Centre for the Mathematical Modelling of Infectious Diseases. “In spite of substantial advances in COVID-19 treatment, we have already seen more deaths in 2021 than we did over the first eight months of the pandemic in 2020. Our work helps to explain why,” Davies added.
The new work follows another study from the U.K. published last week, which showed that people who tested positive for B.1.1.7 in a community setting were also more likely to die within 28 days of a positive test than those with other variants.
MORE FOR YOU

Did You Get A Second Stimulus Check Today? Here’s Why​

Trump Signs Executive Orders To Extend COVID-19 Economic Relief, Includes Unemployment Benefits, Eviction Moratorium​

Biden: Stimulus Bill Passed During Lame Duck Session Is ‘At Best Just A Start’​

The U.K.’s second wave is receding now in both cases and death numbers and many there will be hoping that the high numbers of people who have received at least one dose of a Covid-19 vaccine there will protect against a similarly damaging third wave. However, the situation is more concerning in several other countries, including France, Germany, Italy and Poland who are now being hit hard by B.1.1.7-fuelled third waves and are not doing nearly as well with vaccine rollouts.
“The B.1.1.7 variant is more transmissible, and our research provides strong evidence that is also causes more severe illness. This should serve as a warning to other countries that they need to remain vigilant against B.1.1.7, which has already spread to over 90 countries worldwide,” said Davies.
The good news, however, is that Covid-19 vaccines appear to be highly effective against the B.1.1.7 variant, with many countries including the U.S. hoping that fast vaccine rollouts will curb its spread.

 

[sweetiepie]

KNN no more siok bin oh pare ng gou KNN

 

[republicunt]

Wrong. Again. Call it 0 for 289 tries, all failed

https://www.forbes.com/sites/victor...y-more-deadly-says-new-study/?sh=6411684a6a1e

U.K. Coronavirus Variant Is Significantly More Deadly, Says New Study​

Victoria Forster
Contributor
Health


The B.1.1.7 coronavirus variant "UK variant" is more deadly as well as more transmissible, according ... [+]
GETTY
The U.K. coronavirus variant known as B.1.1.7 is not only more transmissible, but also more deadly than other coronavirus variants, according to a new study published today.
B.1.1.7 was first identified in the U.K. last fall and by December it was detected in several other countries including the U.S. The variant is known to be substantially more transmissible than other SARS-CoV2 coronavirus lineages and quickly took over as the dominant variant in the U.K., late last year, sparking off a damaging and deadly second wave which leaves the U.K. currently second in the world for the most Covid-19 deaths per 100,000 people.

Scientists had suspected that B.1.1.7 might be more deadly, as well as more transmissible following spectacularly high numbers of Covid-19 deaths in the U.K. during the second wave this winter, which saw the U.K’s worst daily death total in January claim over 1,800 lives. But, the new study published in the journal Nature, led by researchers at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine all but confirms that this correlation is genuine.
The study looked at viral genetics data from almost 5,000 people in the U.K. who died from Covid-19, with two-thirds of those being confirmed to have the B.1.1.7 variant. It found that people who were infected with B.1.1.7 had a 55% higher risk of dying within 28 days of being tested positive for Covid-19.
PROMOTED



“England has suffered an enormous toll from B.1.1.7 in the last few months, with 42,000 COVID-19 deaths in January and February 2021 alone,” said Nick Davies, PhD, lead author from LSHTM’s Centre for the Mathematical Modelling of Infectious Diseases. “In spite of substantial advances in COVID-19 treatment, we have already seen more deaths in 2021 than we did over the first eight months of the pandemic in 2020. Our work helps to explain why,” Davies added.
The new work follows another study from the U.K. published last week, which showed that people who tested positive for B.1.1.7 in a community setting were also more likely to die within 28 days of a positive test than those with other variants.
MORE FOR YOU

Did You Get A Second Stimulus Check Today? Here’s Why​

Trump Signs Executive Orders To Extend COVID-19 Economic Relief, Includes Unemployment Benefits, Eviction Moratorium​

Biden: Stimulus Bill Passed During Lame Duck Session Is ‘At Best Just A Start’​

The U.K.’s second wave is receding now in both cases and death numbers and many there will be hoping that the high numbers of people who have received at least one dose of a Covid-19 vaccine there will protect against a similarly damaging third wave. However, the situation is more concerning in several other countries, including France, Germany, Italy and Poland who are now being hit hard by B.1.1.7-fuelled third waves and are not doing nearly as well with vaccine rollouts.
“The B.1.1.7 variant is more transmissible, and our research provides strong evidence that is also causes more severe illness. This should serve as a warning to other countries that they need to remain vigilant against B.1.1.7, which has already spread to over 90 countries worldwide,” said Davies.
The good news, however, is that Covid-19 vaccines appear to be highly effective against the B.1.1.7 variant, with many countries including the U.S. hoping that fast vaccine rollouts will curb its spread.

variants are mutations what some more transmissible other more deaths

 

[zeddy]

Just label it as Pundek Variant.

 

[Leongsam]

As expected data shows that the India variant is now worse than any other variant. Cases continue to plunge and never reached the same levels as the earlier variants that spread in Europe, South America and the USA.

 

[Semaj2357]

Only 24 Greek alphabets. What happens when there are more than 24 variants?

Just label it as Pundek Variant.

hanor, after zeta (catherine jones) just label the variants as ganges, chao praya, mekong, yangtze, amazon, thames, babylon etc

 

[Hypocrite-The]

WHO narrows in on COVID Delta variant - The Online Citizen Asia
Death and despair at the doors of stricken Delhi hospital
The WHO said Tuesday that only one strain of the COVID-19 Delta variant first detected in India was now considered “of concern”, while two other strains had been downgraded.

The B.1.617 variant of the virus, which has in part been blamed for India’s explosive outbreak, has been dubbed a triple mutant variant since it is split into three lineages.

The UN health agency last month declared the entire strain a “variant of concern”, or VOC, but on Tuesday, it said only one of the sub-lineages deserved that label.

“It has become evident that greater public health risks are currently associated with B.1.617.2, while lower rates of transmission of other lineages have been observed,” the World Health Organization said in its weekly epidemiological update on the pandemic.

The B.1.617.2 variant remains a VOC, along with three other variants of the virus that are seen as more dangerous than the original version because they are more transmissible, deadly or have the potential to get past some vaccine protections.

In line with a decision announced Monday to refer to the variants using Greek letters, in a bid to avoid the possible stigmatisation associated with referring to them with the name of the countries where they were first detected, that variant has now been dubbed Delta.

“We continue to observe significantly increased transmissibility and a growing number of countries reporting outbreaks associated with this variant,” the UN agency said.

“Further studies into the impact of this variant remain a high priority for WHO.”

In fact, a new hybrid variant announced by Vietnam’s health authorities on Saturday appears to be a variation of Delta.

“What we understand is that it is this B.1.617.2 variant with one additional deletion in the location of the spike protein,” WHO’s technical lead on COVID-19 Maria Van Kerkhove told reporters Tuesday.

“We know that the B.1.617.2, the Delta variant, does have increased transmissibility, which means it can spread easier between people,” she added.

The B.1.617.1 sub-lineage has meanwhile been downgraded to a “variant of interest,” and dubbed Kappa.

And the B.1.617.3 is now not even considered of interest, WHO said, since “relatively few reports of this variant have been submitted to date.”

It has not been attributed a Greek letter.

— AFP