The Delta variant of the Coronavirus is 40% more transmissible than the Alpha variant that was responsible for the previous wave of COVID-19 and subsequent lockdown restrictions in Britain, the UK’s Health Minister, Matt Hancock, has revealed.
While speaking with a media outlet, the Minister said that Public Health England (PHE), an executive agency of the UK’s Health Department, has confirmed that the Delta variant of Coronavirus, which first emerged in India, has become the dominant strain across Britain.
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He added that people who have been completely vaccinated for COVID-19 should also exercise precaution against both Alpha and Delta variants of Coronavirus.
So far, the UK has administered 68 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine- 40.3 million initial and 27.7 million booster -which means that 40.8% of Britain’s total population has been vaccinated against the Coronavirus, briefed the Minister.
With the rise in infections due to the Delta strain of Coronavirus, the British government is also mulling over delaying lifting UK’s COVID-19 lockdown restrictions by two weeks.
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A national lockdown was enforced in Britain in January this year after the Alpha variant, which first emerged from Southeastern England, became the dominant strain.
The British government had initially announced to lift all lockdown restrictions on 21 June. However, it is now considering delaying the lifting of restrictions till 5 July. The final decision will be made on 14 June.
