Covid-19: New coronavirus variant Delta plus is potentially more contagious

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – British health authorities said on Friday (22) that they are analyzing the subvariant of the delta strain of Covid-19 currently circulating in the UK that appears to be more contagious; however, it does not appear to be more deadly or vaccine-resistant.

The variant “AY4.2 accounted for 6% of all cases in the UK,” reported in its weekly bulletin the UK Health Security Agency, which said they are “currently investigating” this strain.

So far, it is “not a variant of concern,” it added.

“Preliminary evidence appears to show that it has higher levels of transmission compared to delta,” the UK public health agency explained.

“Further testing appears necessary to determine whether this is related to a change in virus behavior or to epidemiological conditions,” it added. However, this variant “does not appear to cause a more severe version of the disease or make current vaccines less effective,” it pointed out.

The delta subvariant generates some concern when the UK has become one of the countries with the highest number of coronavirus cases globally.

After having recorded on Thursday more than 50,000 cases for the first time in three months, on Friday, 49,298 positives and 180 deaths were detected, out of a total of 139,326 deaths throughout the pandemic in the UK.