Australia which has been one of the most successful nations in containing the coronavirus after shutting its borders was now facing the resurgence of the highly contagious Delta variant.
The head of the World Health Organization (WHO) recently revealed that the variant, first identified in India, was spreading in at least 85 countries, terming it the “most transmissible of the variants identified so far.
The Delta variant could be more transmissible than other variants but the evidence is lacking on whether it will make people sicker than the others, according to doctors and medical experts.
It is currently this variant that is causing most new infections in the UK and represents about 20% of new infections in the US.
In the wake of this, countries have started imposing fresh curbs. The rapid spread of this more virulent version of coronavirus has forced several countries to rethink their roadmap out of lockdown. Many countries are now revisiting and revising their strategies to combat the new variant(s).
Israel reimposed indoor mask-wearing less than two weeks after it lifted the measure.
Britain has already extended the date of full reopening by four weeks after the country started reporting a surge in Covid-19 cases, with the Delta variant becoming the dominant strain.
Australia announced a two-week lockdown across all of Greater Sydney, including the Blue Mountains, Central Coast and Wollongong. According to New South Wales state Premier Gladys Berejiklian, there was no point doing it for three days or five days because it wouldn't have done the job,
On Saturday, New Zealand also announced a three-day suspension of its quarantine free travel arrangement with Australia.
According to WHO, the COVID-19 vaccines that are currently in development or have been approved are expected to provide at least some protection against new virus variants because these vaccines elicit a broad immune response involving a range of antibodies and cells.
Current measures to reduce transmission – including frequent hand washing, wearing a mask, physical distancing, good ventilation and avoiding crowded places or closed settings – continue to work against new variants by reducing the amount of viral transmission and therefore also reducing opportunities for the virus to mutate.
Stopping the spread at the source still remains the key.
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