New Deltacron variant discovered
Deltacron, a new coronavirus variant, has been identified in Cyprus, Dr Leontios Kostrikis, who leads the team of scientists working at the University of Cyprus’ biotechnology and molecular virology lab said on Saturday.
Speaking to local media, Kostrikis explained that Deltacron shares the same genetic background as the Delta variant along with some Omicron mutations.
“We have found a significant number of mutations only previously found in Omicron cases, which is different from other variants as it has 30 mutations,” he said. “Ten of these were identified in these samples taken in Cyprus”.
He added that the variant was identified in 25 samples taken in Cyprus, 11 of which came from people hospitalised for coronavirus and 14 from the general population.
“The frequency of the mutations was higher among those in hospital which could mean there is a correlation between Deltacron and hospitalisations.
"It is quite possible that the specific variant has not been identified anywhere else in the world, so this discovery could be of global interest."
Kostrikis said that the sequences of the 25 samples have been submitted to the GISAID database, which will make them available to the global scientific community.
"It is still too early to predict whether Deltacron could overpower Delta and Omicron," he concluded.
Health Minister Michalis Hadjipantelas said more details related to the Deltacron variant will be given in a press conference in the coming week.