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While the world is on high alert due to the new Omicron Covid strain, <keyword id="11357594" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Delta-variant" source="Orion">Delta variant</keyword> continues to be a major cause of the pandemic contributing to 99 per cent of cases, the <keyword id="6356311" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="world-health-organisation" source="Orion">World Health Organisation</keyword> (WHO) said on Monday. Last week, the global health body classified the latest variant B.1.1.529 of SARS-CoV-2 virus, with the name Omicron, as a "Variant of Concern" (VOC), which means it could be more contagious, more virulent or more skilled at evading public health measures, vaccines and therapeutics. First detected from Botswana, in Africa, it has since spread to various countries in Europe, including Belgium, the Netherlands, France and the UK, in Australia and Canada among others. "We know that at the moment, it's the delta variant that's the major cause of the pandemic around the world. Over 99 per cent of cases around the world are due to the delta variant and more deaths are occurring in the unvaccinated," WHO Chief Scientist <keyword id="66471" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="soumya-swaminathan" source="Orion">Soumya Swaminathan</keyword> was quoted as saying on CNBC's "Squawk Box Asia" on Monday. "I think that's our priority while we wait to find out more about (the Omicron) variant," Swaminathan said. While health experts are concerned about Omicron's transmissibility given its unusual constellation of mutations and profile that differs from previous variants of concern, the WHO said that it is not clear how transmissible the variant is and whether it will increase the severity of disease. "It is not yet clear whether Omicron is more transmissible (e.g., more easily spread from person to person) compared to other variants, including Delta," the WHO said in a statement. It is also "not yet clear whether infection with Omicron causes more severe disease compared to infections with other variants, including Delta". The numbers of infections as well as hospitalisation have risen dramatically in South Africa, where Omicron was discovered. But this may also be due to increasing overall numbers of people becoming infected, rather than a result of specific infection with Omicron. "There is currently no information to suggest that symptoms associated with Omicron are different from those from other variants. Initial reported infections were among university studies -- younger individuals who tend to have more mild disease -- but understanding the level of severity of the Omicron variant will take days to several weeks," the global health body said, adding "prevention is always key". Swaminathan said that scientists are conducting experiments and collecting to understand the variant; and also called on countries where the omicron variant has been detected to share their clinical data and genomic sequence data through WHO's platforms for scientists to study. "What we would like to know is, is this variant more transmissible, even more than delta? We would like to know if there is a different clinical pattern, is it less severe, more severe when it causes disease?" Swaminathan was quoted as saying to CNBC. "And thirdly, and very importantly, is this variant able to evade immune responses either after natural infection or after vaccines," she added. However, she stated that currently, it should be assumed that the existing vaccines will provide some protection, if not full protection against the new strain. Thus, "it's really important that everybody out there who's still unvaccinated, or who has received only one dose, must get a full course of vaccination," she said. SEE ALSO: <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/india/news/omicron-covid-19-variant-centre-and-states-have-tightened-scrutiny-at-airports/articleshow/87975016.cms">No confirmed case of Omicron COVID-19 variant in India⁠ so far — both Centre and states have tightened scrutiny at airports</a> <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/india/news/karnataka-releases-new-guidelines-for-international-passengers/articleshow/87975181.cms">Karnataka releases new guidelines for international passengers</a>

Delta variant still responsible for 99% of COVID-19 cases globally, says WHO

<ul><li>Scientists have found <keyword id="8858345" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="sars-cov-2">SARS-CoV-2</keyword> in a washroom of an empty apartment in China. </li><li>The washroom was located right above the washroom of another apartment where five people tested positive for <keyword id="1754604" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="coronavirus">coronavirus</keyword>. </li><li>Scientists also confirmed that coronavirus particles were present in washrooms of apartments located 10 or 12 levels above COVID-19 cases. </li></ul>Scientists have discovered traces of coronavirus in a vacant apartment in Guangzhou, China— suggesting that SARS-CoV-2 which causes COVID-19 may have drifted to the apartment through sewage pipes, according to a<a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-08-26/coronavirus-in-vacant-apartment-suggests-toilets-role-in-spread"> Bloomberg report. </a> In February, SARS-CoV-2 was present on shower handle, sink, faucet of a washroom of an apartment located on the 16th floor. The washroom was located right above the washroom of another apartment where five people tested positive for coronavirus, the researchers at the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-08-26/coronavirus-in-vacant-apartment-suggests-toilets-role-in-spread">said</a> in a study published in Environment International. “The possibility of aerosol diffusion through sewage pipe after flushing the toilet at the 15-floor restroom was further confirmed by an onsite tracer simulation experiment showing aerosols were found in the restroom of apartments at 25-floor (two cases confirmed on Feb 1) and 27-floor (two cases confirmed on Feb 6 and 13),”<a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0160412020319942?via%3Dihub#b0100"> the study said. </a> Scientists also confirmed that coronavirus particles were present in washrooms of apartments located 10 or 12 levels above COVID-19 cases. Each one of those floors reported at least two confirmed cases in early February. The study suggests the SARS-CoV-2 particles present in the patient’s faeces may have moved into the different washrooms via plumbing. Scientists across the world are still trying to understand the nature of SARS-CoV-2 to further examine different ways it can infect humans. At first, the World Health Organisation (WHO) denied any human to human transmission but later, it said that COVID-19 patients — whether asymptomatic or symptomatic — are contagious. WHO recently said that airborne transmission of coronavirus is possible. “Apartments in multistory buildings may be linked via a shared wastewater system. If there’s a smell, it means that somehow air has been transported to where it shouldn’t go,” <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-08-26/coronavirus-in-vacant-apartment-suggests-toilets-role-in-spread">said </a>Lidia Morawska, director of the International Laboratory for Air Quality and Health at the Australia’s Queensland University of Technology. The transmission of coronavirus particle, in this case, is eerily similar to the spread of the severe acute respiratory syndrome in Hong Kong’s Amoy Garden private housing estate. About twenty years ago, 329 residents were infected with SARS after the virus spread through their faulty sewage pipelines. “Although transmission via the shared elevator cannot be excluded, this event is consistent with the findings of the Amoy Gardens SARS outbreak in Hong Kong in 2003,” Scientist Song Tang, who works with with the China CDC Key Laboratory of Environment and Population Health, and colleagues wrote in the study citing unpublished data. According to Bloomberg, several researches have earlier found that toilet flushes can generate aerosols from excreta. These particles remain in the air and can spread upto a distance of more than a meter. Toilets “may promote faecal-derived aerosol transmission if used improperly, particularly in hospitals,” the China CDC researchers said. SEE ALSO: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/education/news/all-you-need-to-know-about-neet-jee-2020-controversy/articleshow/77733682.cms">NEET-JEE 2020: Mamata Banerjee, Sonia Gandhi and other opposition leaders may approach the Supreme Court to challenge Centre’s decision</a>

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Delta variant still responsible for 99% of COVID-19 cases globally, says WHO

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A new study says Coronavirus may have crawled through faulty toilet pipes bringing back a SARS nightmare

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