The U.K. reported 5,341 new confirmed cases of coronavirus on June 6, 68% more than a week ago, and four new deaths in 28 days.
The British government also reported that 40,333,231 people in the UK have received the first dose of vaccine and 27,661,353 people have received two doses of vaccine.
India’s mutated virus hits Britain, infection rate 40% higher than previous wave
The mutated virus originally found in India and now named Delta has a 40 percent higher transmission rate than the Alpha mutated virus that caused the last outbreak in the U.K., said Health Secretary Matt Hancock on June 6.
People who receive both doses of the vaccine should be equally protected from either variant of the virus, Hancock (Matt Hancock) said.
Hancock told Sky News (UK), “That number, about a 40 percent higher transmission rate (than Alpha mutated virus), is the latest report I’ve received.”
The Delta variant, known as the Indian variant, is now the dominant strain in the U.K., according to Public Health England.
The Alpha variant, initially known as Kent variant virus, forced the U.K. to seal the city in January.
Hancock said the 40 percent figure came from the government’s scientific advisory body, the Science and Technology Advisory Group for Emergencies (SAGE).
The British public is increasingly concerned about whether the emergence of the Delta variant of the virus will threaten the government’s June 21 interim deadline for lifting restrictions on the outbreak.
Hancock admitted that the Delta mutant virus “does make the projection of June 21 (lifting the ban) more difficult.
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