In Cyprus (a country in the Middle East) they detected 25 cases of the “deltacron” variant, the combination of delta and omicron. According to Leondios Kostrikis, Professor of Biology at the University of Cyprus and Director of the Molecular Virology and Biotechnology Laboratory, “There are coinfections of omicron and delta and we found this strain that is a combination of these two”, in an interview with Sigma TV.
This new variant was dubbed “deltacron” after the identification of omicron-like genetic signatures within delta genomes, Kostrikis added.
“Statistical analysis shows that the relative frequency of combined infection is higher among patients hospitalized for COVID-19 compared to non-hospitalized patients”, reads a publication of the international agency Bloomberg.
In Kostrikis’s opinion, this strain will also be displaced by the highly contagious omicron variant.
Ecuador registered 1,335 new positives for COVID-19 this Friday and adds a total of 561,285 historical cases since the beginning of the pandemic, according to the latest epidemiological report released by the Ministry of Public Health.
The report specifies that Quito is still by far the city most affected by the pandemic with 189,839 (239 new), ahead of Guayaquil, which has 58,533 infections.
© Provided by Metro
With more than 10,500 cases so far this year, Ecuador today decided to take precautionary measures against the worrying increase in covid-19 with the suspension of school classes in public schools next week and the declaration of the maximum alert in the coastal city of Guayaquil.