The more contagious Delta variant (formerly called the Indian variant) is worrying. Already present in several European countries, this variant would have “the potential to initiate an epidemic rebound”. Already present on Belgian soil, it represented 6% of infections last week. “We are now at 15.7% and everything suggests that we will be at more than 20% next week”, explained Yves Van Laethem on Friday. KULeuven biostatistician Geert Molenberghs estimates that the Delta variant will be responsible for more than 50% of new infections by next week or the week after.
In Portugal, it has now become dominant after causing a rebound in the number of contaminations. To combat the spread of this variant, new restrictions have been put in place in some cities across the country. “There are regions where the situation, in terms of Covid-19, is worrying, but in others this is not the case”, explained Augusto Santos Silva, the Minister of Foreign Affairs at a conference Press.
An extremely contagious variant
According to Dr Jeannette Young, Minister of Health for Queensland in Australia, the delta variant is particularly contagious. “With this variant, we observe very brief contacts which nevertheless lead to transmission. At the start of this pandemic, I spoke of 15 minutes of close contact as a cause for concern. Today, it looks like five to ten seconds are worrying. The risk is so much higher now than it was just a year ago“, she underlined.
But for Hassan Vally, a British epidemiologist, there is no reason to be overly concerned. “The variant behaves the same as the original virus“he told The Guardian.”All the same behavioral prevention measures (editor’s note; barrier gestures, social distancing, etc.) should work against this variant of the virus if they worked against the original strain“.
WHO calls for caution
Faced with the inevitable progression of the Delta variant on the continent, how to protect yourself? According to Dr Mariangela Simao, Assistant Director-General of WHO, “lPeople should continue to use masks routinely, to be in ventilated spaces, to wash their hands … physical distancing, to avoid promiscuity. “” This continues to be extremely important, even if you are vaccinated, when transmission within the population takes place, “she insisted.
“People cannot feel safe just because they have received the two doses. They still have to protect themselves.“. According to the Assistant Director-General of WHO,”the vaccine alone will not stop transmission in the population“.
It is for this reason that WHO officials have called on those fully vaccinated to continue to “play it safeAnother argument: the global vaccination rate.
A real risk of new changes
Indeed, much of the world is still not vaccinated and highly contagious variants, such as the delta variant, are spreading in many countries, causing epidemic rebounds.
In Belgium, the campaign is continuing and the number of Belgians vaccinated is increasing day by day: more than 70% of Belgians have already received a first dose and 40% are fully vaccinated. According to Our World in Data, 22.6% have received at least one dose of the coronavirus vaccine, of which 0.9% are people living in low-income countries.
Faced with this still too low rate, many epidemiologists are sounding the alarm. “The longer low- and middle-income countries are unable to immunize, the more likely the virus will have to enter immunocompromised people and learn to develop an even more effective method of infection.“said Australian professor Mary-Louise McLaws in an interview with newsGP.
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