Cyprus, an island country in the eastern Mediterranean Sea south of the Anatolian Peninsula, has reportedly detected a new COVID variant named Deltacron, which possesses the same genetic background to the Delta variant combined with 10 mutations from Omicron.
As per sources, 25 people in the country have already been affected by Deltacron.
According to the head of the biotechnology & molecular virology laboratory, University of Cyprus, Dr Leondios Kostrikis, 11 out of the 25 samples taken in Cyprus were admitted to the hospital due to the virus. At the same time, the other 14 were found from the general population as reported in a mail by Cyprus.
Kostrikis said that the frequency of mutations among the people was higher, which could correlate between the new variant and hospitalizations.
However, at present, the new variant was not something to put concerns on, said Michalis Hadjipandelas, Cyprus's Health Minister.
It was mentioned that it can be possible that the new strain has not been detected anywhere else. Moreover, the sequences of these cases have been sent to GISAID, a global science initiative and primary source that tracks developments in the coronavirus.
Studies show that the Delta and Omicron co-existence increases possibilities of the emergence of a new variant due to them trading genes.
Apart from this, France recently detected a variant with 46 mutations and was named IHU.
The new variant termed B.1.640.2 is said to have infected around 12 people in the country, according to the government of France.
However, it may impose a higher risk than Omicron, said to be exceedingly transmissible but mild in infection and less deadly than previous the Delta variant, said researchers. It is also a bit early to theorize on epidemiological, virological, or clinical features of this IHU variant based on (just) 12 cases.
Source Credit - https://health.economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/diagnostics/cyprus-detects-new-deltacron-covid-variant-says-report/88800106