Researchers discover new Covid variant that combine delta and omicron

The Omicron variant of the corona found in South Africa has once again caused increase in number of patients in many parts of the world. Although the omicron variant is less lethal than the delta variant of the corona, the speed at which it is infecting people has caused a third covid wave in most countries. The administration's concern is heightened by the fact that millions of people are being infected every day. 

A researcher in Cyprus has discovered a strain of the coronavirus that combines the delta and omicron variant, Bloomberg News reported on Saturday. Leondios Kostrikis, a professor of biology at the University of Cyprus, called the delta's genome "deltacron" because it contained traces of omecron. According to reports, the team of researchers has found 25 patients of this variant. It’s still too early to tell whether there are more cases of the strain or what impacts it could have.

Also, the combination of Delta and Omicron variants could put a strain on the healthcare system in the future. We will see in the future if this strain is more pathological or more contagious or if it will prevail” against the two dominant strains, delta and omicron, Kostrikis.

The researchers sent the report to GISAID, that tracks viruses, according to an international database. The deltacron variant comes as omicron continues its rapid spread across the globe, causing a surge in Covid-19 cases. . Omicron is currently causing a rapid increase in the number of covid patients. According to Johns Hopkins University, in the US, on a seven-day average, more than 600,000 covid patients are found every day. This is an increase of 72 per cent over the previous week. This has put a huge strain on the health system there. Public services such as police, fire brigade and bus driver have been affected due to infection of employees. Therefore, the question of how to provide necessary services to the people has arisen before the government. The huge increase in the number of cases has led to shortage of testing kits in many places.