UK delays relaxation in covid lockdown restrictions as Delta variant threatens a third wave.

LONDON, June 15: Finding that the Delta variant of coronavirus, first detected in India during its worst ravaging second wave of covid lasting a little over two months which made the country the worst affected in the world with a dreadful daily mortality of over 4,500, the highest ever across the globe, is behind 96% of covid infections surging in a third wave in the UK as per latest figures, a worried Prime Minister Boris Johnson has extended the coutrywide lockdown for another 4 weeks from June 21 as expected.

Johnson said in a televised address on Monday there is no choice but to delay relaxations in covid lockdown until July 19. He said, “The objective of this short delay is to use these valuable, crucial weeks to save thousands of lives -- lives that would otherwise be lost, I’m afraid -- by vaccinating millions more people as fast as we can.”

The Delta variant also known as B.1.617.2, was previously known as the “Indian variant”, as it was first found in India.

It's one of the four variants (Alpha, Beta, Gama, Delta) most concerning to global health authorities, according to the WHO, because it's believed to show increased transmissibility. The WHO had earlier this month renamed covid-19 variants with Greek letters like Alpha, Beta, Gamma and Delta to avoid stigma.

The variant has new symptoms said to be more severe than the earlier virus. Gastrointestinal issues such as nausea, diarrhoea, abdominal pain and appetite loss, hearing loss, gangrene and blood clotting have been found to be associated with the new Delta variant.

Delta has increased risk of hospitalization in comparison to the Alpha strain, according to Public Health England.

Meanwhile, British studies of late have found Pfizer and AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccines are effective against Delta variant.

A fortnight back, the UK had said Delta spreads faster than Alpha which was first detected in the UK. The UK is now facing a serious threat from Delta in a third wave. It said, "it is highly likely that Delta is significantly more transmissible than Alpha."

According to some studies on Alpha, it suppressed immune response and that is why it was more transmissible.

The UK also plans to vaccinate the kids. There were 7,738 cases on Saturday against 8,000 on Friday. 96% of all cases in the UK are caused by Delta. There have been 42,000 of Delta so far. The total deaths are 1,28,000. The number of daily deaths has fallen following a third nationwide lockdown and rapid vaccination drive.

The delta variant makes up 6% of sequenced covid cases in the United States, and threatens to pose a serious challenge to healthcare. President Joe Biden and virologist Dr Anthony Fauci have therefore appealed to all Americans to get vaccinated fast. As of last week, 52 % of Americans had at least one dose of covid vaccine and 43% were fully vaccinated.

"We cannot let that (what happened in India during April-May) happen in the United States," Fauci said. "Get vaccinated," he pleaded. He also warned, "There's poor protection after a single dose."