Is Delmicron a new variant of COVID-19? How is it different from other variants of coronavirus

Amid the rising cases of the Omicron variant in India and globally, some countries are still dealing with an active threat of the Delta variant which had wreaked havoc during the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Experts have repeatedly said that Omicron is more transmissible than the Delta variant and while the world is still coming to terms with it, reports are now emerging about a new variant called ‘Delmicron’.

Delmicron, the twin spikes of Delta and Omicron, has brought a record number of cases in Europe and the US.

Delmicron, as the name suggests, is a double variant of COVID-19 – Delta and Omicron. The name has been coined as both Delta and Omicron are being found all over the world including India.

Shashank Joshi, a member of the state government’s COVID task force said, “Delmicron, the twin spikes of Delta and Omicron, in Europe and US has led to a mini tsunami of cases. At present, Delta derivatives, descendants of Delta, are the main variants in circulation in India. Omicron is fast replacing Delta in other parts of the world, but there is no way to predict how Delta derivatives and Omicron would behave.”

How are Delmicron and Omicron different?

A new variant of COVID-19 was first reported to the World Health Organisation (WHO) from South Africa on November 25. On November 26, the WHO named the new COVID-19 variant B.1.1.529, which has been detected in South Africa, as ‘Omicron’.

On the other hand, Delmicron is ‘the twin spikes of Delta and Omicron’.

Meanwhile, India has reported 7,495 new COVID-19 cases in the last 24 hours, Union Health Ministry informed on Thursday. According to the Ministry, 236 cases of Omicron variant of coronavirus have been reported in the country so far.