The delta variant, which emerged in India and was renamed “delta” a number of weeks ago, is reported to be both more contagious and more virulent, making patients sicker than other variants. It is threatening to become dominant in the U.S. over coming weeks, and it is already dominant in the U.K. – 90% of all new cases are delta strain. According to press accounts, in the U.K., people with the delta strain run about 2.6 times the risk of hospitalization compared with the previously dominant strain in the U.K.
Hong Kong said June 28 that it was banning all passenger flights from Britain beginning later this week, because of the growing number of new coronavirus cases and “widespread delta variant virus strain there,” according to a government statement.
