Everything we know about the new hybrid Covid-19 variant 'Deltacron'
ok.co.ukDeltacron has now officially been declared a COVID-19 strain. Concerns about a mutation combining features of both the Delta and Omicron variants first arose earlier this year, following an investigation that took place in a Cyprus lab.
Virologists in Paris have now confirmed its existence. It's also been confirmed, by the World Health Organisation (WHO), that evidence of the strain has been found in Denmark and the Netherlands.
France and the US have also reported cases. Here in the UK there is so far one confirmed case from a person who had contracted both variants.
It is likely the variant began circulating in January. How does Deltacron happen? “These recombinants arise when more than one variant infects and replicates in the same person, in the same cells,” Professor Lawrence Young, a virologist at the University of Warwick told the Guardian. “Deltacron is a product of both the Delta and Omicron variants circulating in the same population.” The technical lead of the WHO, Maria van Kerkhove, said the mutation was "to be expected, especially with intense circulation of Omicron and Delta", adding that her team was "tracking and discussing" the new variant.
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