Coronavirus Strain First Found In India Named "Delta Variant": WHO

Together, lineages of the B.1.617 variant were officially recorded in 53 territories and unofficially in another seven.

The COVID-19 variant first found in India will henceforth be referred to as the "Delta variant", the World Health Organization (WHO) announced today. India had on May 12 objected to it, identified as B.1.617 till now, being labelled the "Indian variant". The world health body had earlier said that viruses or variants should not be identified by the names of countries they were found in. Together, lineages of the B.1.617 variant were officially recorded in 53 territories and unofficially in another seven. It had shown to be more transmissible, while disease severity and risk of infection are still under investigation. "The labels don't replace existing scientific names, which convey important scientific information and will continue to be used in research. No country should be stigmatised for detecting and reporting Covid variants," said Dr Maria Van Kerkhove, Technical lead COVID-19 at WHO.