New variant ‘Deltacron’ emerges in Cyprus

A new coronavirus variant Deltacron has emerged in Cyprus which has a similar genetic background to the Delta variant as well as some of the mutations from Omicron and experts say that it is not something to be worried about at the moment a media report saidIn total 10 of the mutations from Omicron were found in the 25 samples taken in Cyprus At least 11 of the samples came from people who were hospitalised due to the virus while 14 came from the general population reported Jerusalem Post citing Cyprus MailLocals line up to get tested for coronavirus at a temporary testing centre for Covid19 in Hong Kong on Sunday PicsAPDr Leondios Kostrikis the head of the laboratory of biotechnology and molecular virology at the University of Cyprus said that the frequency of the mutation among hospitalised patients was higher and could point to a correlation between the new variant and hospitalisationsKostrikis also emphasized that the variant has a similar genetic background to the Delta variant as well as some of the mutations from Omicron The new variant was not something to worry about at the moment said Cyprusrsquos Health Minister Michalis Hadjipandelas on Saturday The minister also expressed pride in discovering the new variant So far the scientific name of the new variant has not been announcedHadjipandelas was quoted as saying it is ldquoquite possiblerdquo that the new strain has not been found elsewhere and the sequences of the cases have been sent to GISAID an open access database that tracks developments in the coronavirus the Cyprus Mail reported Studies have shown that the coexistence of Delta and Omicron increases the chances of a new variant as a result of them trading genes In line with this France recently detected a variant with 46 mutations and was dubbed as IHUChina testing all 14 million residents of cityThe numbers are small but the major port of Tianjin may be facing Chinarsquos first outbreak of omicron less than four weeks before Winter Olympics open in nearby Beijing The city began mass testing of its 14 million residents on Sunday after 20 children and adults tested positive for COVID19 including two with the omicron variant Officials said the virus has been circulating so the number of cases could growResidents line up for a coronavirus test during a mass testing of its 14 million citizens in north Chinarsquos Tianjin municipality on Sunday PicAPOmicron 105 per cent more transmissible than Delta says study by French scientistsThe Omicron variant may be 105 per cent more transmissible than Delta according to a research by French scientists The study published on the medRxiv site and yet to be peerreviewed analysed 131478 tests in France from October 25 to December 18 2021The team applied statistical models to variantspecific screening tests and full genome sequencingThey compared the number of infections with the Omicron Alpha and the Delta variants over a 21day period he difference in rate of transmissibility in people with Delta and Omicron was approximately 105 per cent2357007No of new cases reported globally in the past 24 hours298915721Total no of cases worldwide5469303Total no of deaths worldwideSource WHOJohns HopkinsThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever