Delta Plus COVID variant identified in VI - Acting Chief Medical Officer, Dr Ronald E. Georges said variant was identified in 1 of 24 COVID samples sent to CARPHA

ROAD TOWN, Tortola, VI - Acting Chief Medical Officer (CMO), Dr Roland E. Georges on December 24, 2021, announced that of a batch of 24 COVID-19 samples sent to the Caribbean Public Health Agency (CARPHA) for genetic typing, one of the samples was identified as the Delta Plus variant.

This came as the territory confirmed 143 active cases of COVID-19 as of December 24, 2021, in a virus spike attributed to Delta.

'Delta Plus' in dozens of countries

Since early November 2021, the “Delta Plus,” has emerged as another variant causing alarm, having first been identified in Europe in March 2021.

The Delta Plus variant is also known as B. 1.617.2.1 or AY.1 and have has been followed by the World Health Organisation (WHO) since July and is now present in dozens of countries.

Most of the cases have occurred in the UK; however, it only represented in about 6% of cases in October with AY.1, along with AY.2 and AY.4.2 strains interchangeably called Delta Plus.