WHO: New high-risk variants of COVID-19 possible

The SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus continues to mutate, so the emergence of new especially dangerous variants in addition to the four strains currently assigned to this group – “alpha”, “beta,” “gamma” and “delta” – should be expected, according to the Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO) Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.

Report informs, citing TASS, that the WHO chief spoke at a briefing in Geneva on Friday.

According to him, the WHO has warned that the virus that causes COVID-19 has evolved since it was first reported and continues to change. Thus, four strains of concern have emerged, and more will emerge as the virus continues to spread.

He stressed that the sharp rise in incidence in recent weeks in five of the six WHO regions is due in large part to “the highly contagious delta variant now found in no fewer than 132 countries.”