The Delta variant of coronavirus is now present in nearly 100 countries according to traditional estimates, said the World Health Organization. In the coming months, the highly transmissible strain will become the dominant variant of the coronavirus globally warned the World Health Organization.
The WHO said as of June 29, 2021, that “96 countries have reported cases of the Delta variant, though this is likely an underestimate as sequencing capacities needed to identify variants are limited. A number of these countries are attributing surges in infections and hospitalizations to this variant,” updated the COVID-19 Weekly Epidemiological. Looking at the rise in transmissibility, the WHO warned that the Delta variant is “expected to rapidly outcompete other variants and become the dominant variant over the coming months.”
“Although the increased transmissibility of VOCs (Variants of Concern) means that measures may need to be maintained for longer periods of time, particularly in a context of low vaccination coverage, these measures must be targeted, time-bound, reinforced and supported by member states,” it added.
It was being noted by the world body that tackles that exist today to combat COVID-19 by the individual, community level-public health and social measures, infection prevention, and control measures that have been used since the beginning of the pandemic to make it remain effective against current variants of concern (VOCs), including the Delta variant.
Last week, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said the Delta variant is the “most transmissible” of the variants identified so far and is spreading rapidly among unvaccinated populations. “I know that globally there is currently a lot of concern about the Delta variant, and WHO is concerned about it too. Delta is the most transmissible of the variants identified so far… spreading rapidly among unvaccinated populations,” Ghebreyesus had said.
It was noted by him that some countries relaxed the public health and social restriction and due to which there was a spike in cases and increased risk in transmission around the globe.
Cases of the Alpha variant have been reported in 172 countries, territories, or areas, Beta in 120 countries (one new country), Gamma in 72 countries (one new country), and Delta in 96 countries (11 new countries), according to latest figures. Meanwhile, for the first time in many weeks, the highest numbers of new COVID-19 cases were not reported from India.
“Well into the second year of the COVID-19 pandemic, the global situation remains highly fragile. While at the global level, trends in cases and deaths have been declining in recent weeks, there is significant variation by region, by country and within countries,” the update said.
The update further noted that at 521,298 that is the highest numbers of new cases which were reported from Brazil during the June 21-27 week, followed by India (351,218 new cases, a 12 percent increase over the previous week), Colombia (204,132 new cases, 5 per cent increase), Russia (134,465 new cases, 24 per cent increase) and Argentina (131,824 new cases, 11 per cent decrease).
The South-East Asia Region reported over 573,000 new cases and over 13,000 new deaths, a 5 per cent and a 33 per cent decrease respectively compared to the previous week.
“There is a slight overall decrease in the number of cases reported this week, mostly due to the decrease in the number of cases reported in India,” the update said, adding that a number of countries, including Myanmar (112 per cent increase), Indonesia (60 per cent increase) and Bangladesh (48 per cent increase), reported large increases in the number of newly reported cases for this week. In the region, the highest numbers of new cases were reported from India (351,218 new cases; 25.5 new cases per 100,000; a 21 per cent decrease), Indonesia (125,395 new cases; 45.8 new cases per 100,000; a 60 per cent increase), and Bangladesh (36,738 new cases; 22.3 new cases per 100,000; a 48 per cent increase). The highest numbers of new deaths were reported from India (9038 new deaths; 0.7 new deaths per 100,000; a 45 per cent decrease over the previous week), Indonesia (2476 new deaths; 0.9 new deaths per 100,000; a 39 per cent increase), and Bangladesh (624 new deaths; 0.4 new deaths per 100,000; a 45 per cent increase).
The WHO said, it said in all WHO regions, there are countries reporting sharp increases in cases and hospitalizations. There are a number of factors contributing to this, including the emergence and circulation of more transmissible variants of SARS-CoV-2, increased social mixing and mobility, uneven and inequitable vaccination; and considerable pressure to lift public health and social measures.
