The World health Organization said on tuesday that the Delta coronavirus variation had displaced the three previous COVID-19 variants of concern, which now account for only a small percentage of the samples being sequenced.
"There are now less than 1% of Alpha, Beta, and Gamma in circulation. Around the world, Delta is the most common "Maria Van Kerkhove, WHO's technical lead on COVID-19, stated.
The Delta version, which was originally discovered in india last year, has evolved to become "more fit, more transmissible, and it is out-competing, it is replacing the other viruses that are circulating," she said, adding that it has been found in over 185 countries to far.
The coronavirus was originally discovered in China's wuhan in december of last year, and all viruses, including SARS-CoV-2, change over time. The WHO began classifying coronavirus variations as variants of interest and variants of concern in late 2020. As the development of new variations posed an increased risk to global public health, the health agency began doing so to inform the response to the pandemic.
To minimise stigma in the countries where the variations were initially discovered, the WHO has designated the variants after letters of the Greek alphabet. There are five variations of interest, however, Eta, Iota, and Kappa have been demoted to variants under observation, according to the WHO COVID-19 technical head.
"There are now less than 1% of Alpha, Beta, and Gamma in circulation. Around the world, Delta is the most common "Maria Van Kerkhove, WHO's technical lead on COVID-19, stated.
The Delta version, which was originally discovered in india last year, has evolved to become "more fit, more transmissible, and it is out-competing, it is replacing the other viruses that are circulating," she said, adding that it has been found in over 185 countries to far.
The coronavirus was originally discovered in China's wuhan in december of last year, and all viruses, including SARS-CoV-2, change over time. The WHO began classifying coronavirus variations as variants of interest and variants of concern in late 2020. As the development of new variations posed an increased risk to global public health, the health agency began doing so to inform the response to the pandemic.
To minimise stigma in the countries where the variations were initially discovered, the WHO has designated the variants after letters of the Greek alphabet. There are five variations of interest, however, Eta, Iota, and Kappa have been demoted to variants under observation, according to the WHO COVID-19 technical head.
