BBC Breakfast: Louise speaks to doctor about Delta variant

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The UK is currently in the midst of what some scientists have dubbed a third Covid wave, which has forced the Government to delay roadmap plans by more than a month. The seven-day rolling average for the country is currently more than 9,500, part of an ongoing peak in cases that started in late May. The now dominant Delta variant is the culprit, giving rise to questions on the status of other infamous Covid variants.

What happened to the Kent Covid variant?

The Kent Covid variant, otherwise known as Alpha, prompted the deadly Covid surge earlier this year that saw tens of thousands of daily cases.

But it is no longer the dominant force of the growing variant constellation, giving way to Delta in early June according to Matt Hancock.

Christina Pagel, a Professor of Operational Research at University College London, said it now accounts for “well over” 90 percent of sequenced Covid cases.

Professor Pagel added the Alpha variant is now “dying out”.

Some people may now question what exactly happened to cause this reversal.

Delta is both more infectious and capable of bypassing the immune system.

As such, people have caught Delta much quicker than they might have the Alpha variant.

On the human battleground, this makes the Delta variant the apex predator.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) confirmed this in a recent press conference, where Irish epidemiologist Dr Mike Ryan discussed its infectivity.

He called Delta the “most able and fastest and fittest of those viruses”.

Dr Ryan added: “This particular delta variant is faster, it is fitter, it will pick off the more vulnerable more efficiently than previous variants, and therefore if there are people left without vaccination, they remain even at further risk.”

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The lockdown earlier this year also ensured remaining cases of the Alpha variant faded to baseline levels.

Delta variant cases will likely continue to rise in England, Scotland and Wales, and may soon spread to the US.

Scientists and medical professions are currently braced for the transatlantic jump.

Among them is Dr Peter Hotez, Baylor College of Medicine’s National School of Tropical Medicine dean.

He told CNN Covid infections in the US may soon mirror the UK’s current situation.

Dr Hotez said: “This is the most transmissible of all the variants that we’ve seen.

“We saw what happened in the UK, where it overtook the entire nation.

“So I’m worried that’s going to happen in the US.”

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