Explainer: What to know about the new COVID-19 Delta variant
In 2019, the coronavirus was first detected in the Wuhan province in China, and spread to many countries across the globe.
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The earlier strain which spread to several countries across the globe, infected millions of people with hundreds of thousands of people losing their lives globally.
According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, prior to the newly identified variant, there were three known variants of the coronavirus disease.
Source: UGC
Various Variants
The first variant, Alpha, technically known as the B.1.1.7, was discovered in 2020 in the United Kingdom. The West African Centre for Cell Biology of Infectious Pathogens (WACCBIP) found out that the Alpha variant was in the country.
The Beta variant otherwise known as the South Africa variant was also detected in Ghana at the beginning of the second quarter of this year.
The Gamma variant was also detected on January 2021 amongst a group of travelers from Brazil who went to Japan.
Researchers have however stated that Ghana has not detected the Gamma variant yet.
There have been various media reports that the new coronavirus variant is deadlier than the other variants that were previously discovered.
Delta Variant
The Delta variant has been described as highly transmissible as compared to the other variants.
Due to how transmissible it is, it is spreading at a really fast pace.
According to WebMD Medical, as of June 14, 2021, which happens to be just six months after its discovery, the virus has already reached about 74 countries.
The report indicates that in the U.K., it has already overtaken the alpha variant with regard to the recorded confirmed cases.
Experts believe delta is anywhere from 30% to 100% more infectious than alpha.
Researchers are still unsure why the delta variant is so much more transmissible than others.
Infection rate
It is believed that if it can easily blend with your cells, it is able to infect more of them and overpower your immune system.
Studies in the UK have showed that children and adults under 50 were 2.5 times more likely to become infected.
Doctors have also revealed that patients with the delta variant appear sicker than those they treated early in the pandemic. And their condition seems to go downhill much faster.
Top symptoms
With the Delta variants, symptoms appear to be more severe as people may be more likely to end up in the hospital if they have the delta variant since it has almost double the risk of hospitalization than the alpha variant.
It is believed that this particular variant comes with very severe headache as well as sore throat and runny nose.
Just like the other variants, the delta variant also comes with severe fever as well.
The report indicates that cough is becoming less common and loss of smell is no longer listed in the top 10 common symptoms anymore.
Researchers are however concerned about the fact that people may mistake the symptoms for a bad cold and thus avoid quarantine which is helping the variant spread.
Vaccination
No one vaccine has been proven to be very effective against the virus.
The most popular vaccine in use in Ghana, AstraZeneca has been reported as 60% effective against the Delta variant in preventing severe illness.
The efficacy of the Pfizer vaccine was measured at 80% for preventing illnesses by the Delta variant.
Recorded cases
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Information has confirmed that the deadly Delta Variant of the Coronavirus has been recorded at Achimota School.
The ministry revealed that 135 students of Achimota school have tested positive for covid-19, the majority of these cases being the Delta Variant.
An interview on 3FM monitored by YEN claims that about 100 students of Achimota School tested positive of the Delta Variant of COVID 19 following a student exhibiting symptoms of Covid-19.
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Source: YEN.com.gh
