The World Health Organization (WHO) predicts that the Delta variant, which is highly contagious and is already responsible for more than three-quarters of new Covid cases in many large countries, will be the most prevalent in the coming months.
This variant, first identified in India, is already present in 124 countries and regions, 13 more than last week, compared with 180 (six more) for Alpha, which was first identified in Britain, 130 (7 more ) for Beta, which was first recognized in South Africa and 78 (three more) for Gamma, which appeared in Brazil, the WHO emphasizes.
“We expect that (the Delta variant) will quickly outperform the other variants and become the dominant one (of Covid), which will be released in the coming months,” the WHO continues.
Among the countries where the Delta variant is now the cause of more than 75% of new cases of this disease are India, China, Russia, Indonesia, Australia, Bangladesh, Britain, South Africa. , Australia, Portugal, Israel.
“However, we continue to be unaware of the exact mechanism by which this variant is most highly contagious” compared to others, according to the World Health Organization.
About 3.4 million additional cases of Covid were recorded in the week of July 12-18, which is 12% more compared to the previous week, he emphasizes.
“At this rate, we expect that the cumulative number of recorded cases (since the beginning of the pandemic) worldwide may exceed 200 million in the next 3 weeks,” the WHO warned.
This trend will be explained by four factors: more contagious variants, relaxation of public health measures, greater social interaction, and the fact that many people have not been vaccinated.
Last week, the number of new cases rose by 30% in the Western Pacific and by 21% in Europe, according to the WHO.
Indonesia recorded the largest increase: 350,273, an increase of 44%, followed by Britain (296,447, + 41%) and Brazil, which continues to have a high number of cases (287,610, but recorded a decrease of 14%).
The weekly death toll of 57,000, on the other hand, remained stable compared to last week.
