New Strain Of COVID's Delta Variant Detected In Sweden, Likely To Be More Transmissible

The Delta variant is already believed by UK epidemiologists to be 60 per cent more transmissible than the Alpha variant that earlier dominated Britain.

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New Delhi:  A new strain of COVID-19's Delta variant has been detected in Sweden, some of the cases have been reported among fully vaccinated people.

The Delta variant with the E484Q mutation has have been detected in 8 COVID-infected persons in Uppsala which is about 70 km north of capital Stockholm, news agency IANS reported Swedish media as saying in a report.

Delta variant has already been a cause of concern for the world, having led to a spike in COVID cases in several countries such as UK and Australia.

While currently there is not much known about the new strain in Sweden, studies indicate that it is likely to be more transmissible. According to inputs, all the new cases are reported to be linked to travel abroad.

"We take all variants against which vaccines may not have the same protection seriously," Mats Martinell, medical manager at the sampling unit of Uppsala Region, told Swedish Television, as quoted by IANS.

Martinell had urged the residents to be vigilant as Uppsala is a university city and the new term began recently.

"We are in a stage where there can be large outbreaks connected to super-spreading events such as parties, and one has to be careful," he told Swedish Television.

According to the latest official data, more than 1.11 million COVID-19 cases have been recorded in Sweden.

It was informed that to date, 80.5 per cent of the adult population have received at least one dose of COVID vaccine, while 61.1 per cent have had both doses.

While the Delta variant is already believed by UK epidemiologists to be 60 per cent more transmissible than the Alpha variant that earlier dominated Britain, more details regarding transmissibility of the new strain found in Sweden are awaited.