So now we have Deltacron.

Should we be worried? - from the Sky News article

The Delta variant had more severe effects on those who caught it, while Omicron was more infectious. This may cause concern over a strain combined from both.

However, scientists stress there is now substantial immunity in the human population against both variants and there is no reason to think this will pose a danger to vaccines.

Dr William Lee, chief science officer at Helix, a California based lab that sequences COVID-19 samples for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, told USA Today: "The fact that there is not that much of it, that even the two cases we saw were different, suggests that it's probably not going to elevate to a variant of concern level."

And Dr Van Kerkhove added in the places where "Deltacron" has been found, "there are very low levels of this detection".

She also confirmed they had not seen "any change in severity", and that studies will continue to track its effects.

Health Secretary Sajid Javid said there were "no concerns at all" when asked about the Deltacron variant.

"There are variants that we would obviously keep under review," he said.

"The most recent one of concern has been Omicron but we have successfully navigated our way through that as a country thanks to the response of the British people.

"There are also so-called subvariants of Omicron and we're not concerned about any of those at this important time.

"We keep it under review but we have no concerns at all."

And from me:

Deltacron is not a variant.

It's a name made up by journalists.

It may be Omegacron one day.

L’Institute Pasteur has identified and named Deltacron according to Sky News.

What is Deltacron?
As the portmanteau suggests, Deltacron is a Covid variant that contains elements of Delta and Omicron – in other words, it contains genes from both variants, making it what is known as a recombinant virus.

"^These recombinants arise when more than one variant infects and replicates in the same person, in the same cells,” says Prof Lawrence Young, a virologist at the University of Warwick. “Deltacron is a product of both the Delta and Omicron variants circulating in the same population^.”

This week, Gisaid, a global community of scientists that shares virus information, posted that the first solid evidence for this variant had been shared by the Pasteur Institute in France.

Dr Etienne Simon-Loriere of the Institut Pasteur cautioned that there could be several different recombinant viruses formed from Delta and Omicron.

“^The one we see in France and in Denmark/Netherlands look super similar and might be the same recombinant (with the same parental viruses) that have travelled,” he said. But, he added, the possible Delta-Omicron recombinants reported in countries including the UK and US appear to combine different pieces of their parental viruses, and therefore differ to the Deltacron seen in France^.

We might need to find a different name to indicate these recombinant, or start adding a number,” he said

Fri 11th March 2022

www.theguardian.com/world/2022/mar/11/what-is-deltacron-covid-variant-uk

Cases of Covid have risen throughout the UK countries.

Read it again GG13

volver

Read it again GG13

Will do volver in the morning,

I bow to your superior knowledge on this, and I am not being sarcastic. I am the ignoramus in our family when it comes to science.

It is worth remembering that today it was reported that in the UK more people now are dying of flu than are dying of COVID (all variants)

I think the time has come to have a more balanced view and reflect how much better things are getting as well, as all the negative news and events. 97% of the population have COVID antibodies, from the vaccination or having the illness and hospital admissions have fallen by 88% from their height. And, as noted above, more are now dying of flu than of COVID.

I'm not sure that's true MOnica. The death rate for those with flu is higher than those with Covid, but far more people have caught Covid than flu.

Cases, hospitalisations and deaths have all risen over the last couple of days. Hopefully, it isn't the start of a trend.

The government has just stopped funding the ZOE study and I don't trust the government data anyway. For a start, re-infections aren't counted in the official stats and we know that some people have been re-infected a number of times.

Whoever is responsible for the Deltacron name, it would appear that at least one recombinant has been sequenced. Sajid Javid is sticking his head in the sand if he really thinks there are "no concerns at all".

I’m struggling with all this doom and gloom with COVID.

As a county we have less than 300 deaths in two years of COVID and yet the whole county has suffered two summers of partial lockdown to the detriment of businesses and livelihoods.

What is it you want?

It's been estimated that Omicron is at least 40% more deadly than seasonal flu.

Catching a disease in itself is not a disaster, for the vast majority, it will be a mild infection and soon back to normal. Surely that there are so many more cases of COVID but still fewer deaths than from flu, shows how mild a disease it has become.

Yes, that is thanks to the vaccination, but does it matter what the reason is. It is the result that matters.

Pantglas2

I’m struggling with all this doom and gloom with COVID.

As a county we have less than 300 deaths in two years of COVID and yet the whole county has suffered two summers of partial lockdown to the detriment of businesses and livelihoods.

What is it you want?

I'd like people to start facing facts (not doom-mongering or conspiracy theories) and realise that Covid is still here and is not going anywhere. Social distancing and other mitigations have played a part in reducing transmission. Pretending otherwise because you're fed up with it won't make it go away. Unfortunately, your county can't act independently from the rest of the country, where death rates have been much higher.

M0nica

Catching a disease in itself is not a disaster, for the vast majority, it will be a mild infection and soon back to normal. Surely that there are so many more cases of COVID but still fewer deaths than from flu, shows how mild a disease it has become.

Yes, that is thanks to the vaccination, but does it matter what the reason is. It is the result that matters.

No, MOnica, there are more deaths involving Covid than from flu. The figure you've seen is that the mortality rate from flu is higher, which isn't the same thing at all. Few people catch flu.

I’m not doubting that growstuff - the point I make is that there are very few deaths here after all our best efforts in terms of isolating, mask wearing etc so what else do we have to do?

How can it simultaneously be true that omicron is more deadly than seasonal flu and also that the mortality rate from flu is higher than the mortality rate for covid?

Pantglas2

I’m not doubting that growstuff - the point I make is that there are very few deaths here after all our best efforts in terms of isolating, mask wearing etc so what else do we have to do?

Carry on wearing masks, testing and whatever else you've been doing. It obviously worked. There's no need for a general lockdown. The trouble is that, as we've seen, many people haven't been that careful.

PS. The government and media should stop covering up what's going on in schools.

volver

How can it simultaneously be true that omicron is more deadly than seasonal flu and also that the mortality rate from flu is higher than the mortality rate for covid?

Because Omicron is more transmissible and there are more cases. The figure of 40% is from a Japanese study. Incidentally, there is no evidence that the death rates from seasonal flu and Omicron are significantly different. In the UK, Covid is still accounting for approximately 10% of deaths.

So omicron is not more deadly, there's just more of it around.

It's bedtime. I'll be back in the morning.

What a strange world we live in. I had just watched an upsetting bit of news (another one) on TV and wasn't concentrating as I read. So I "read" that this was a recumbent virus. So instead of re-combining, the little picture in my brain had it lying down. For at least a minute I felt maybe the world is trying to be a kinder place to us than it has been recently [hugs]

I’m rather concerned about the rising cases of Covid and also about this apparent new variant. The government being unconcerned doesn’t in any way to alleviate my concern.

maddyone

I’m rather concerned about the rising cases of Covid and also about this apparent new variant. The government being unconcerned doesn’t in any way to alleviate my concern.

So am I. I'm actually working in a school for 10 weeks because there's a shortage of staff and I bit the bullet and decided to "help out" (with mask). I don't work on Fridays, but 250 pupils were sent home today and a different 250 will be sent home on Monday because so many staff are ill. About 10% of the pupils are absent. The fact that government isn't concerned (aka couldn't be bothered) increases my concern, especially as the latest release of JCVI minutes confirms that the intention always has been to aim for "herd immunity" and children have been seen as the carriers.

How will they know? MrOops has Covid, but no one will know what strain it is.
They know he has tested positive because we told them, but no idea of what type.

This past week 5 people I know have tested positive, None of them have informed anyone, so how will the government know how contagious any future strains are?