* Photo: Anadolu Agency (AA)

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Attending an online program of the Sakarya University (SAÜ) Medical School, Prof. Gülay Korukluoğlu made a presentation on "Sars-Cov-2 Variant Tracking Studies in Our Country" yesterday (July 8).

In her presentation as part of the "COVID-19 Updates; Vaccines, Mutations and Delta Variant" program, Prof. Korukluoğlu, also a member of the Health Ministry's Coronavirus Scientific Advisory Board, underlined that the Delta variant is 60 percent more contagious than the original virus and 50 percent more contagious than the United Kingdom (UK) variant.

Korukluoğlu noted that she has been unable to give an exact number about the Delta variant cases yet. She said, "I believe that 80 percent of the cases will be caused by the Delta variant in August."

'Occupancy at hospitals is important'

As reported by the state-run Anadolu Agency (AA), Prof. Korukluoğlu has said that while Israel is one of the best countries in terms of vaccination, the number of Delta cases has been on the increase, which has been mostly caused by lifting the obligation to wear face masks.

As noted by Gülay Korukluoğlu, the country has now reintroduced the mask rules as part of COVID-19 measures.

According to the physician, it will not be something unexpected if the Delta variant spreads quickly. She has briefly commented:

"What I find important is what rates of inpatient treatment or mortality rates this will lead to. There is no negative feedback from the Delta cases that I know. The rate of positive cases is still low in our country.

"The number of cases in the UK is on the increase, but the occupancy rates of hospitals is falling. To us, this is the most important of all, this will be the biggest benefit that I expect from the vaccine."

Delta variant in Turkey

In his statement on Jun 29, Turkey's Minister of Health Fahrettin Koca announced that 224 Delta variants were diagnosed in 26 of the 81 provinces. Of these 224 variants, 134 were reportedly in İstanbul.

In his statement on July 6, Fahrettin Koca said that three people in three provinces were diagnosed with Delta plus. While he said that one of these provinces was İstanbul, he did not reveal the other two.

About the situation in Israel

While the number of coronavirus cases caused by the Delta variant is on the increase in Israel, the country, on June 25, reintroduced the obligation to wear face masks in closed spaces in this context.

The government of Israel has also shared the results of a study conducted about the issue; according to this study, the effectiveness of the BioNTech vaccine in preventing the cases dropped to 64 percent as of June 6 and they are now considering the possibility that the drop in the protectiveness of the vaccine has been caused by the Delta variant.

About the Delta variant

The Delta variant of the coronavirus was first identified in October 2020 in India, where it sparked one of the worst crises seen throughout the pandemic, as hundreds of thousands of infections and thousands of deaths were seen in the South Asian country for days on end.

The scientists in the UK say that the Delta variant, also known as B.1.617.2, spreads more quickly than the Alpha variant, which was the reason behind the rapid increase in the number of cases in winter and was first diagnosed in the Kent region in the east of England.

According to a statement by Dr. Soumya Swaminathan, the Science Head of the World Health Organization (WHO), the Delta variant is almost two times more contagious than the original virus.

As for Delta plus, considering that it is transmitted more quickly and proves more resistant to the antibody treatment, the WHO has categorized this variant under the section of Variants of Concern (VOC).

As reported by the BBC, the Delta variant is thought to be 40 to 60 percent more transmissible than other variants. Andrea Ammon, the Director of the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC), said on June 23, "Preliminary data shows that it can also infect individuals that have received only one dose of the currently available vaccines". (TP/SD)