Israel: Delta coronavirus outbreaks – Binyamina designated orange, Modiin Maccabim-Re’ut designated yellow

The Israeli Health Ministry reported 110 new coronavirus cases in Israel in the last 24 hours on Wednesday morning, bringing the total number of active cases to 554.    More...

UK: 30%+ hospitalisation vaccine breakthrough rate for Delta coronavirus

UK Vaccine minister Nadhim Zahawi says more than 60% of hospitalisations for the Delta variant are for people who have not been vaccinated (or, in other words, more than 30% of hospitalisations are for people who HAVE been partially or fully vaccinated).  More...

USA/UK: 2 separate clades of Delta coronavirus variant with K417N – AY.1 and AY.2

Through routine scanning of variation in Delta, a small number of sequences were detected which had acquired the spike protein mutation K417N.  More...

Israel: increasing number of Delta coronavirus outbreaks in schools

In the past few days, several outbreaks have occurred in schools all over Israel, prompting the ministry to order students in three cities to wear masks and to consider issuing a stronger recommendation to get children ages 12-15 to get inoculated.  More...

Australia: another “fleeting contact” coronavirus infection case in Sydney

The New South Wales premier says there has been one new covid case, that has come about as a result of “fleeting contact” in a shopping centre, and there are new restrictions for the state.  More...

India: four lions at Vandalur zoo infected with Delta variant of coronavirus

The Genome sequencing analysis of four samples taken from lions at the Arignar Anna Zoological Park in Vandalur revealed that they were all affected by the Delta (B.1.617.2) variant of Covid.  More...

Norway: 70 infected with Delta coronavirus variant – 7 were fully vaccinated

Approx. 70 Norwegians have been infected with coronavirus after two concerts in a culture house in Færder Municipality last week, and many of them have been diagnosed with the Delta variant – the variant that was first found in India.  More...

UK: Delta coronavirus variant could push R to 7 without mitigations says PHE chief

Dr Susan Hopkins, Public Health England’s strategic COVID-19 response director, told the Science and Technology Committee of the UK Parliament today that if the Delta variant B16712 was “unmitigated”, left to spread without any lockdown restrictions, the R number could become “greater than five and maybe up to seven”.  More...

Canada: 82% Delta vaccine breakthrough in Calgary hospital coronavirus outbreak

An outbreak of the Delta coronavirus variant at the Foothills Medical Centre in Calgary has seen 16 patients and six health-care workers tested positive for the variant.   More...