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Delta COVID-19 variant spreads to over 120 countries, WHO says

21 July 2021 14:00 (UTC +04:00)

The number of countries and territories, where the highly contagious Delta COVID-19 variant is circulating, climbed by 13 from July 13 to 20, having reached 124, the World Health Organization (WHO) announced on Wednesday, APA reports citing TASS.

According to the WHO weekly epidemiological bulletin, some 124 countries and territories, including 13 of them reported this week, detected cases of the Delta COVID-19 variant.

The WHO emphasizes that the geography of the four strains that were characterized as "variants of concern" (VOCs - Alpha, Beta, Gamma and Delta) continues to expand. Meanwhile, the experts claim that the Delta strain will "rapidly outcompete other variants and become the dominant variant globally over the coming months".

Experts reported more and more data indicating the increased transmissibility of the Delta COVID-19 variant compared to the strains that were not classified as VOCs. The WHO noted that the exact mechanism of the surge in transmissibility remained unclear. According to a Canadian study, the risk of death from the Delta variant is 137% higher than from the non-VOCs of COVID-19.