WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has said the Delta variant is the most transmissible of the variants identified so far and is spreading rapidly among unvaccinated populations.
The World Health Organisation has said the Delta variant of COVID-19 is now present in nearly 100 countries as per conservative estimates, and warned that in the coming months the highly transmissible strain will become the dominant variant of the coronavirus globally.
The world body noted that the tools that exist today to combat the coronavirus individual, community level-public health and social measures, infection prevention and control measures that have been used since the beginning of the pandemic remain effective against current variants of concern (VOCs), including the Delta variant.”
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.
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,” Mr Ghebreyesus had said.
He had noted that as some countries eased public health and social restrictions, there was a corresponding increase in transmission around the world.
As per latest figures, 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).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, the WHO said.
