Ukrainian scientists have recorded a dangerous variant of the Delta strain in 7 country regions. Photo: Institute of Molecular Biology and Genetics
Scientists at the Institute of Molecular Biology and Genetics of NASU have detected in Ukraine the circulation of a variant of the coronavirus delta strain that is characterized by "a severe course of the disease, high contagiousness, and high mortality." Scientists have identified the AY.122 variant in samples of the infected Ukrainians in a number of regions of the country, including Dnipro, Poltava, Mykolaiv, Odesa, and Zhytomyr.
"The high mortality rate in Ukraine (at the same time in Russia and Kazakhstan), compared with the mortality rate in Western Europe and the United States, may be related to the features of the Delta strains circulating in our territories, in particular, the AY.122 variant as well," the institute report states.
Meanwhile, no Omicron case was detected in the samples provided to the scientists between November 18 and December 1. However, the scientists have identified 12 different variants of the Delta originating from the US, EU member states, Israel, Russia, etc.
Context. According to the World Health Organization, Omicron has now been recorded in more than 90 countries. On December 18, Ukraine joined them as well.
Over the past day in Ukraine, coronavirus was detected in 6,647 people and 1,646 were hospitalized. 248 people died from coronavirus and 14,874 recovered.