World / Delta COVID-19 variant is now dominant in most European countries: WHO

The Delta COVID-19 variant has now become the dominant variant in most of Europe, the WHO said on Monday. Data between June 28 and July 11 shows the variant, first identified in India, was dominant in at least 19 of 28 European countries that reported sufficient information. It was found in an average of 68.3% samples in these 19 countries.

Vikrant Shekhawat : Jul 27, 2021, 02:40 PM

Geneva: The SARS-CoV-2 Delta variant of concern is now the dominant variant in most of Europe, the World Health Organisation (WHO) warned on Monday.

The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC), the WHO said that efforts to prevent transmission of the Delta variant must be reinforced.

The WHO Regional Office for Europe and the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) shows that between June 28 and July 11 the Delta variant was dominant in the majority (19 countries) of the 28 countries that reported sufficiently complete genetic sequencing information," says a statement from WHO and ECDC.

"In these 19 countries, the median proportion of all nationally sequenced virus isolates detected that were Delta was 68.3 per cent, overtaking that for the previously dominant Apla variant (22.3 per cent) across the region," it said.

The Delta variant will be the globally dominant strain over the coming months and has already been identified in almost all European countries. It will continue to spread, displacing circulation of other variants unless a new more competitive virus emerges.

According to the latest statement by ECDC: "The emergence of significantly more transmissible SARS-CoV-2 variants such as the B.1.617.2 (Delta) is causing an upsurge of COVID-19 cases in several EU/EEA countries. This is likely to continue until a larger proportion of the general population is fully vaccinated unless more stringent non-pharmaceutical interventions (NPIs) are implemented.