UK health officials said the Delta variant of COVID-19 continues its rise in the UK with a further 36,800 cases logged on Friday, which marks a 17 per cent increase over the previous week. Public Health England (PHE) said that while the infections continue to be high and rising, there has not been a corresponding rise in the number of hospitalisations with COVID-19, indicating that the vaccinations are effective against the highly transmissible variant first identified in India.
Of the 36,800 cases of Delta B1.617.2 variant over the past week, 45 are from the Delta AY.1 sub lineage with the mutation K417N, which is feared to be more vaccine resistant a proportion that has remained consistent over the past few weeks. Case rates are still high and rising, but it is encouraging that the increase in cases still does not appear to be associated with a similar increase in hospitalisations and deaths. This is testament to the continued success of the vaccination programme in reducing the…