The UK has postponed the last phase of easing to July 19, the main reason being the high number of infections, especially with the delta variable (as the World Health Organization calls the specific variable in India). He says it’s a bit unclear why this variable has increased so strongly among Britons Mays house بيت, a virologist at the Rega Institute of KU Leuven.
“According to the data now available, the delta variant is 30 to 40 percent more infectious than the alpha variant (the ‘British’ variant, ed.), but there are no special mutations that would make this a type of supervirus. It is not clear why this increase. Is it the virus itself or the conditions in the UK?”
It is not clear the reason for this increase. Is it the virus itself or the conditions in the UK?
The fact that the UK has a large Indian population may play a role, “but we are also seeing an increase with the delta variant in other countries, for example in Russia.” The British method of vaccination can be important. “They focused mainly on the first injections. In the meantime, two injections are clearly needed for complete protection. So it is possible that the delta variant can be traded more easily.”
In our country, the delta variant accounts for about 12 percent of confirmed infections. “We definitely have to take that into account, it can go both ways,” says Maes. “Infections are dropping very sharply, vaccination rate is very high. All things positive right now. It is not abnormal that this variant takes the upper hand, it is difficult to estimate. So it is important to keep the number of infections as low as possible.
Listen to the conversation with Piet Maes on “The Morning” on Radio 1 Select
Source: vrtnws.be and ‘The Morning’
