Cyprus, an island country in the eastern Mediterranean Sea south of the Anatolian Peninsula, has reportedly detected a new COVID variant named Deltacron, which possesses the same genetic background to the Delta variant combined with 10 mutations from Omicron. Kostrikis said that the frequency of mutations among the people was higher, which could correlate between the new variant and hospitalizations. Studies show that the Delta and Omicron co-existence increases possibilities of the emergence of a new variant due to them trading genes. Apart from this, France recently detected a variant with 46 mutations and was named IHU. However, it may impose a higher risk than Omicron, said to be exceedingly transmissible but mild in infection and less deadly than previous the Delta variant, said researchers.

Source: Economic Times January 10, 2022 14:01 UTC