Cypriot researchers have discovered a new variant of the coronavirus that combines delta and omicron.
Transfer Cyprus Mail Professor Leontios Kostrikis, who leads the research at the Biotechnology and Molecular Virology Laboratory at the University of Cyprus, explains that the variant has the same genetic background as the delta variant, but also shares ten mutations with the omicron.
He calls the new variant “delta crown”.
– We have found a significant number of mutations that have only previously been found in the omikron variant, Kostrikis says in a statement to the newspaper.
Of the 25 people who have been diagnosed with the latest variant, eleven are hospitalized.
– It should be able to mean that there is a connection between the participation crown and hospital admissions, the professor adds.
Got bragged
The Cypriot Minister of Health, Michalis Hadjipantelas, was very pleased after the researchers presented their findings on Saturday.
– We are proud of our researchers. The groundbreaking research findings of the team make us proud of our researchers as this research can put us on the international map regarding health issues.
Can be outcompeted
To the TV channel Sigma, the professor says that he is not sure whether the “delta crown” will spread quickly.
– The future will show if this is more serious and if they are more contagious, or if it will resist delta and omikron that dominate now.
Kostrikis has shared the variant’s genetic code with researchers around the world, and at the beginning of next week the Greek authorities will hold a press conference where they will tell more about the discovery.
It is the WHO that officially assigns the name of new corona variants. “Delta crown” is therefore not an official variant of the virus yet.
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