Coronovirus – The Delta + mutation has come to Greece – The first cases and the concerns of experts

The scientific community, in Greece as well, has been alarmed over the Delta + mutation as, according to the data of the National Organization of Public Health (EODY), a total of 11 cases of the new variant of the coronavirus have been identified, which were detected scattered within Greek territory.

The coronavirus that entered our lives worldwide in 2019 has caused more than 4.5 million deaths to date. The number of cases increased sharply when the coronavirus Delta mutation began to spread in May 2021.

A few months later, as health services around the world struggled to cope with the spread of the Delta variant, it became known that a new mutation had appeared, which scientists call "AY.4.2" or "Delta +".

In fact, it is not a new strain of the coronavirus, but a subtype of the Delta variant.

11 cases in Greece

In the context of re-evaluation of samples from the National Genomic Surveillance Network of EODY for the mutations of SARS-CoV-2 in our country, 11 samples which according to the previous data were classified as strain AV.4 (belonging to the strain Delta), now with current revision are classified as strain ΑΥ.4.2 (also called as Delta +).

In total, 364 new cases of the Delta mutation were detected in the period 13 September to 9 October in our country, while from the beginning of the sample control until today, the Delta mutation was detected at a rate of 33.02%,

In total, 11,280 cases of the same variant have been detected in Greece, of which 4,419 were detected in Attica.

Scientists report that the AY.4.2 subtype appears to be 10-15% more contagious than the Delta mutation but cannot yet be blamed for the high number of COVID cases in the UK. Thus, research is being conducted to determine whether it...