COVID Pandemic Far From Over, WHO Warns As Hybrid Omicron And Delta Variant Spreads In Several Countries

With Deltacron variant cases reported in parts of Europe and the US, the World Health Organisation has warned that the "pandemic is far from over."

After almost three years of fighting the microscopic villain, coronavirus, people finally took a sigh of relief, thinking that the COVID-19 pandemic was over. However, the emergence of new variants keeps sabotaging these plans and spreading infection. Recently, incidences of the Hybrid variant of Delta and Omicron have been reported in many countries like France, Netherlands and Denmark.

Since it is not only the beginning phase with only a few cases of Deltacron being reported in several places, the severity of Deltacron is still not clear.

"Pandemic Is Far From Over " Warns WHO

Recently in a news conference, the World Health Organization (WHO) announced that Deltacron is spreading in various regions of Europe.

"No noticeable changes have been registered yet in the severity, but studies are underway to know more about it. There is a possibility that it may soon spread among humans. So pandemic is far from over," says WHO.

Delta-Omicron Hybrid Identified In Several Places

According to a report published on the online platform medRxiv on March 8, the new hybrid strain, dubbed "Deltacron," was confirmed through genome sequencing undertaken by experts at IHU M diterran e Infection in Marseille, France, and has been discovered in different parts of France. According to the international database GISAID, cases have also been discovered in Denmark and the Netherlands as well. According to Reuters, two cases have been detected in the United States by the California-based genetics research business Helix. Roughly 30 instances have been detected in the United Kingdom, as per reports.

Dr Soumya Swaminathan, the chief scientist at the World Health Organization (WHO) tweeted on Tuesday, "We have known that recombinant events can occur, in humans or animals, with multiple circulating variants of #SARSCoV2."

We have known that recombinant events can occur, in humans or animals, with multiple circulating variants of #SARSCoV2. need to wait for experiments to determine the properties of this virus. Importance of sequencing, analytics & rapid data sharing as we deal with this pandemic https://t.co/2qmu6WS118 Soumya Swaminathan (@doctorsoumya) March 8, 2022

Further highlighting, she wrote, we "need to wait for experiments to determine the properties of this virus. Importance of sequencing, analytics & rapid data sharing as we deal with this pandemic."

The hybrid variation was created by a process known as recombination, which occurs when two virus variants infect a patient at the same time and exchange genetic material to generate a new progeny.

(With inputs from agencies)