Indian variant of coronavirus may be 60% more contagious than UK variant, expert says

The variant of the coronavirus detected in India, called Delta, may be 60% more contagious than that found in Kent (south-eastern England), called Alphasaid this friday Neil ferguson, great expert from Imperial College London.

“We get more data”, but “unfortunately the news is not positive regarding the Delta variant“Ferguson said that in statements on Radio 4 of the BBC, specifies that “The best guess at the moment is that this variant (India) could be 60% more contagious than Alpha”.

The expert, whose analyzes helped in decisions made by the government for containment in March 2020, added that they were waiting for more data in order to establish the efficacy of the Delta variant vaccines, which is the one that now predominates in the country.

Ferguson further noted that most people hospitalized in the UK for the Delta variant are not vaccinated.

“It is important to say that the majority of people currently hospitalized with this variant, and with any variant, are not vaccinated. So it is clear that vaccines still have a considerable effect», He indicated.

UK signed up on Thursday 5,274 new cases of coronavirus, the highest daily figure since the end of March, and others 18 deaths, according to British health authorities.

In the country, half of adults have received both doses of a vaccine against COVID-19, while 75.2% of the adult population have been vaccinated with the first dose.

Concern over the appearance of variants forced the Government to tighten controls on international travel and reduce the list of safe destinations for travel.

(With information from EFE)

KEEP READING: