The number of Delta variant cases of COVID-19 in the UK have risen by 35,204 since last week to a total of 111,157, representing a 46 per cent increase, health officials said in the weekly report released on Friday.
Public Health England (PHE) said of the total Delta variant of concern (VOC) – first identified in India – 42 belong to the Delta AY.1 sub lineage, dubbed as Delta plus in some quarters over fears of its even greater transmissibility.
Her warning came as EU health officials said the variant would account for 90% of the bloc’s cases by late August.The spread could disrupt plans for lifting restrictions during the summer.The Alpha variant, first discovered in the UK, hit Europe hard early this year and Delta, now dominant in the UK, is thought 40%-60% more transmissible.
Andrea Ammon, the director of the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC), said on Wednesday that the spread of the Delta variant showed the importance of speeding up vaccinations in Europe, as “preliminary data shows that it can also infect individuals that have received only one dose of the currently available vaccines”.