United Nations: World Health Organization (WHO) chief Tedros Adhanam Ghebreyesus warned that the delta+ variant of Covid-19, found in at least 85 countries, is the “most infectious” of all the forms that have been detected so far and that it is the most infectious among those people. It is spreading rapidly in those who have not vaccinated.
“I know there is a lot of concern right now about the delta pattern around the world and the WHO is also concerned about it,” the WHO director-general told a news conference on Friday. The delta form of the coronavirus was first found in India. “Delta is the most infectious of all the forms detected so far and has been identified in at least 85 countries and is spreading rapidly among people who have not been vaccinated,” he said in Geneva. Expressing concern over the easing of public health and social measures in some countries, he said, “We are beginning to see an increase in infections around the world.
More cases mean more hospitalizations, which will increase the pressure on health care workers and the health system and increase the risk of death. Ghebreyesus said that new forms of Covid-19 are expected to come and they will keep coming. “That’s what viruses do, they keep proliferating but we can stop the forms by stopping the spread of infection,” he said. Dr. Maria Van Kirkhove, technical lead for COVID-19 at WHO, said the delta form is a “dangerous” virus and is more contagious than the alpha form which itself was highly contagious in Europe and other countries.
He said that cases of infection are declining in many European countries, but other events including large-scale sports or religious programs are also taking place. “There is a result of all these activities and the delta form is spreading rapidly among people who have not vaccinated,” he said. Kirkhove said that some countries have higher numbers of people vaccinated, but the entire population of those countries has not yet been vaccinated and many people have not received a second dose of the anti-Covid-19 vaccine.
He said the anti-Covid-19 vaccines against the delta form are “very effective” in preventing serious illness and death. The WHO chief said that it is easy to understand that more infection means more infection and less infection means lesser form. He said that this is the reason why the WHO has been saying for a year that the allocation of vaccines should be equitable.
