Delta variant spreads to 98 nations, Europe struggles to ramp up vaccination

The delta variant of the coronavirus disease (Covid-19), which was first detected in India last year, has now spread to at least 98 countries across and is the most contagious variant of the virus to be identified till now. The World Health Organization (WHO) director general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus warned on Saturday the world is currently in a very dangerous period of the pandemic and the delta variant is continuing to evolve and mutate.

The WHO, meanwhile, in its Weekly Epidemiological Update published on June 29 said that the recent surge in infections and hospitalisations in countries can be attributed to the delta variant. It (delta variant) is "expected to rapidly outcompete other variants and become the dominant variant over the coming months," the WHO report added.

In Europe, Portugal, Russia and the United Kingdom (UK) are witnessing a massive spike in daily cases due to the delta variant. The entire continent at present, is struggling to accelerate the vaccination drive and outpace the spread of the variant.

While in the United States, the delta variant accounts for over one-fourth of the total active Covid-19 cases in the country. Top US infectious disease expert Dr Anthony Fauci said on July 1 the variant has the capability of spreading much more efficiently from person to person.

Here are the latest updates:

> Delta variant is increasing rapidly in Thailand's capital Bangkok and accounts for 70 per cent of the new cases, a study by Chulalongkorn University's Center of Excellence in Clinical Virology stated.

> Portugal is seeing an extremely high increase in delta variant, which accounted for 4 per cent of cases in May but nearly 56 per cent last month, according to news agency AP. Daily cases jumped by 2,605 on Saturday, the highest single-day spike since mid February. The government is aiming to vaccinate 1.7 more million citizens as new cases are being reported more among the unvaccinated.

> Iranian President Hassan Rouhani warned on Saturday that the country will be hit by a fifth wave of the pandemic linked to the outbreak of the delta variant. Rouhani urged citizens to be careful as the variant has entered Iran from south and southeast.

> The European Centre for Disease Control (ECDC) said on Saturday the risk of infection from the delta variant is high to very high for those who are partially vaccinated or not vaccinated at all. By the end of August, the variant will account for 90 per cent of infections in 27 nations of the European Union, the ECDC added.

> The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) said in its study that neutralising antibodies against the delta variant were not found in 58.1 per cent of the serum samples from those administered the first dose of the Covishield vaccine, Hindustan Times reported on Saturday. While after taking both the doses, the antibodies could not be found in 16.1 per cent of the samples