Brazil: new strain of coronavirus identified in Rio de Janeiro, designated P5

Monitoring in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, has identified a possible new Sars-Cov-2 lineage, originating from P.1.1.28, in the region of Barra Mansa and Porto Real, on the border with the State of São Paulo, and which has only now been called P5.  More...

WHO: Newly designated VOC within lineage B.1.617 – update on Delta coronavirus variant

In consultation with the WHO SARS-CoV-2 Virus Evolution Working Group, WHO has determined that viruses within the lineage B.1.617 have been characterized as a VOC.  More...

India: 16% vaccine breakthrough in Delhi hospital coronavirus study

A small-scale study on 113 healthcare workers who had received at least one vaccine dose at a private hospital in Delhi found that 18 tested positive for Covid but all except one had mild symptoms.   More...

WHO: B.1.617 Delta coronavirus strain is now a Variant of Concern or VOC

A World Health Organization official said Monday it is reclassifying the Indian Sars-Cov-2 variant B.1.617 as a “variant of concern,” indicating that it’s become a global health threat.

 More...

Belgium: Five fully vaccinated care home residents infected with B.1.617.3 in vaccine breakthrough outbreak

Five residents of a care home in Borsbeek in Antwerp province have been infected with the so-called Indian variants of Covid-19, according to the Flemish Agency for Health and Care.  More...

India: B1617 twice as infectious as UK coronavirus variant B117

Early indications from an analysis of the growth of the B.1.617 variant of the Covid-19 virus has shown it to be at least twice as infectious as the UK variant and thrice as infectious as the variant behind last year’s Covid-19 wave.  More...

UK government poised to declare Delta coronavirus B.1.617 a Variant of Concern or VOC

The UK government is thought to have detected more than 40 clusters of the Indian Covid variant B.1.617 in the UK, and is on the verge of declaring it a “variant of concern”.

 More...