Delta variant getting more dangerous and can soon be dominant, WHO Chief warns

Weeks after the World Health Organization (WHO) labelled the Delta variant of coronavirus as a "variant of concern", the organisation’s chief, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus had warned about the alarming increase of the ‘highly transmissible' variant.

Tedros warned that the Delta variant has now spread to 104 countries and will soon become the dominant variant of COVID-19 in the world. This will result in a deadly increase in the number of coronavirus infections and deaths.

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He also highlighted that the situation is worse in the countries that are struggling to vaccinate their citizens, especially the third-world and poor countries.

"My message today is that we are experiencing a worsening public health emergency that further threatens lives, livelihoods and a sound global economic recovery. It is definitely worse in places that have very few vaccines, but the pandemic is not over anywhere," he said in a press briefing.

His warning has come as the Covid related deaths have once again started increasing after observing a decline of only 10 days.

"In places with high vaccination coverage, Delta, first detected in India, is spreading quickly, especially infecting unprotected and vulnerable people and steadily putting pressure back on health systems. In countries with low vaccine coverage, the situation is particularly bad," he warned people.

He also stressed that the countries which had managed to stay clear of the first few waves of COVID-19 can also be targeted by the deadly variant. "Even countries that successfully managed to ward off the early waves of the virus, through public health measures alone, are now in the midst of devastating outbreaks," he warned.