government officials are very reluctant to reimpose Covid restrictions, despite calls from health professionals to do so as British hospitals face being overwhelmed by demand as winter approaches.Īndrew Pollard, head of the Oxford Vaccine Group, which helped to developed the AstraZeneca-Oxford University vaccine, said on Wednesday that the delta subvariant won't change Covid picture. 'There's no evidence for that, but as you would expect, we're monitoring it closely and won't hesitate to take action if necessary,' he added. prime minister's official spokesman called for calm on Tuesday, telling Sky News that ' is something we're keeping a very close eye on,' but stressing that there was currently no evidence to suggest that this variant is more easily spread. It's unknown to what extent, if any, the subtype has been found in mainland Europe. On Thursday, Russia also said it had registered some isolated cases of the AY.4.2 variant. CDC Director Rochelle Walensky noted that 'in particular the AY.4.2 variant has drawn some attention in recent days.' She added that: 'we have, on occasion, identified this sub lineage here in the United States, but not with recent increase frequency or clustering, to date.'Īs well as the U.S., Israel said it had confirmed a case of the AY.4.2 variant in an 11 year-old boy entering the country at Ben Gurion airport. Health officials are remaining calm about the delta subtype, for now, noting that it's crucial to keep an eye on the mutation but not to panic.Ĭommenting on 'delta plus' on Wednesday, U.S. The delta subtype is reported to be 10-15% more transmissible than the standard delta variant, but it is too early to say for certain whether it has been causing a spike in cases in the U.K.

is currently seeing a prolonged and worrying spike in Covid cases, reporting between 40,000-50,000 new infections per day in the last week, prompting experts to question why the U.K. Read more: The UK has one of the highest Covid infection rates in the world right now: Here’s why 'This sublineage is currently increasing in frequency,' the U.K.'s Health Security Agency said last week, noting that 'in the week beginning 27 September 2021 (the last week with complete sequencing data), this sublineage accounted for approximately 6% of all sequences generated, on an increasing trajectory. Read more: UK doctors call for urgent return of Covid restrictions as experts monitor new mutation Covid cases, with some suggesting it could be a factor in the country's growing health crisis that has prompted some doctors to call for Covid restrictions to be reimposed. AY.4.2 is being identified in an increasing number of U.K.

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