Delta variant to soon become dominant strain worldwide: WHO

Mangalore Today News Network

New Delhi, Aug 17, 2021: The highly transmissible Delta variant of the coronavirus would soon become the dominant strain worldwide, the World Health Organisation (WHO) has said.The surge in the cases of Delta variant has increased the urgency for the vaccination of the vulnerable group, WHO said.

 

Rising infection rates resulting in increased hospitalisations are overwhelming health systems and leaving many countries in urgent need of life-saving oxygen.

The WHO said testing rates in much of the world are too low, especially in the low and lower-middle-income countries leaving much of the world blind to how the disease is evolving and vulnerable to new variants.

The WHO said funding the Rapid ACT-Accelerator Delta Response (RADAR) urgent appeal for $7.7 billion would enable:

    * Significantly increased testing and better surveillance to detect and protect against new variants
    * More oxygen to treat the seriously ill and save lives
    * Vital personal protective equipment (PPE) to protect health workers
    * The rolling out of emergency response and delivery support for the effective delivery and deployment of Covid-19 tools, including in humanitarian contexts
    * Continued research and development (R&D) so that tools remain effective
    * The WHO said the $7.7 billion is not an additional funding need but is part of the ACT-Accelerator’s overall 2021 budget, which is needed urgently within the next four months.

WHO stated, "With more Covid-19 cases reported in the first five months of 2021 than in the whole of 2020, the world is still in the acute phase of the pandemic despite high vaccination rates in some countries protecting populations from severe disease and death. Inadequate testing and low vaccination rates are exacerbating disease transmission and overwhelming local health systems, while leaving the whole world vulnerable to new variants."

While four variants of concern currently dominate the epidemiology, there are fears that new, and possibly more dangerous, variants of concern may emerge, it warned.

Courtesy:India Today