WHO warns of “deadly” Delta coronavirus variant
DAMASCUS, Syria (North Press) – The Delta variant of Covid-19 is a warning to the world to suppress the virus quickly before it mutates again into something even worse, the WHO said Friday.
The highly-transmissible variant, first detected in India, has now surfaced in 132 countries and territories, the World Health Organization said.
On average, infections increased by 80 percent over the past four weeks in five of the six WHO regions.
“Delta is a warning that the virus is evolving but it is also a call to action that we need to move now before more dangerous variants emerge,” the WHO’s emergencies director Michael Ryan told France Press in a press conference.
WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said, “So far, four variants of concern have emerged and there will be more as long as the virus continues to spread.”
Though Delta has shaken many countries, Ryan said proven measures to bring transmission under control still worked; notably physical distancing, wearing masks, hand hygiene and avoiding long periods indoors in poorly ventilated, busy places.