Delta Variant Dominant in Portugal, Spreads To France, Italy, Spain
The Delta variant is not a dominant thread in the COVID-19 spread in Portugal and has appeared in clusters across Germany, France and Spain.
The variant, if allowed to continue to spread, could disrupt Europe’s return to normalcy, prompting Health officials and the French health minister to issue warnings.
This is a threat to the EU’s progress in containing the virus. European nations have opened borders and allowed fans to go to stadiums to watch EURO 2020 games. Will this become a major threat channel for the variant to spread further in the EU?
The variant swept the UK forcing the country to halt its plans for a return to normalcy. European health officials are issuing warnings that further action is needed to slow its spread.
The variant first emerged in India now accounts for 96 per cent of sequenced Covid-19 infections in Portugal, more than 20 per cent in Italy and about 16 per cent in Belgium.
“We are in the process of crushing the virus and crushing the pandemic, and we must in no way let the Delta variant get the upper hand,” France’s health minister, Olivier Véran says on Tuesday.
Véran says that 2 per cent to 4 per cent of virus samples being analysed in France were showing they are from the Delta variant.
“You might say this is still low but it is similar to the situation in the UK a few weeks ago.”
Globally Dominant
On the other hand, WHO officials are saying Africa remains an area of concern, even though it accounts for only around 5% of new global infections and 2% of deaths.
The Delta variant is however becoming a globally dominant variant of the disease, the World Health Organization’s chief scientist says.
“The Delta variant is well on its way to becoming the dominant variant globally because of its increased transmissibility,” WHOs Soumya Swaminathan told a news conference.