Delta to account for 90% new cases in Europe by end-August: Report

The Delta variant, identified for the first time in India, could account for 90 percent of new Covid cases in the EU in the coming months, the bloc's disease control agency said Wednesday, news agency AFP reported.
 
“It is very likely that the Delta variant will circulate extensively during the summer, particularly among younger individuals that are not targeted for vaccination," Andrea Ammon, director of the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC), said in a statement.
 
“The Delta variant is more transmissible than other circulating variants and we estimate that by the end of August it will represent 90 percent" of new cases in the EU, she added.

 

According to the AFP article, The ECDC estimates that the Delta variant (B.1.617.2), is 40 to 60 percent more contagious than the Alpha variant (B.1.1.7), first discovered in the UK, which is currently the predominant variant of the novel coronavirus circulating in the EU.