Iran's Rouhani fears Covid fifth wave linked to Delta variant

President Hassan Rouhani expressed fears on Saturday that Iran will be hit by a fifth wave of the Covid-19 pandemic due to an outbreak of the Delta variant.

During a meeting, Rouhani said, "It is feared that we are on the way to a fifth wave throughout the country,". He warned the public to be careful as "the Delta variant has spread" in southern provinces.

The deadly coronavirus broke out in the last months of 2019 and took over the world in the early months of 2020, sending almost every country around the globe in a complete lockdown. As the countries stopped functioning, economies took a huge hit and people struggled to maintain physical and mental wellbeing.

Add WION as a Preferred Source

Also Read |COVID-19: All you need to know about Delta Plus variant

However, as 2021 began, people started to gain some hope, especially due to the commencement of vaccine drives all around the globe. Unfortunately, that ray of hope disappeared soon as new variants of COVID-19 started popping out in different cities of the world.

Adding to the long list of new variants, a new mutant version of the Delta strain, Delta Plus, has now been labelled as a "variant of concern" by Indian authorities.

Delta Plus (B.1.617.2.1/(AY.1) is a new mutant strain of the Delta variant of SARS-CoV-2, and has emerged as a new threat, especially in India. While the Delta variant, which was first detected by scientists in India, became a problem for the whole world, Delta Plus is currently limited to smaller areas in the country and is still under investigation.

Experts believe Delta Plus has increased transmissibility but it is still not very clear as to how virulent this new strain is in comparison to other variants.