ARCHIVED - 77 per cent of Covid positives in Spain attributed to delta variant
As predicted the delta variant is now the predominant strain in Spain, as is the case in neighbouring countries
The delta variant of coronavirus continues to spread through Spain and now represents 77 percent of the cases detected, reaching more than 80 percent in most of the 17 autonomous regions, according to the latest update of the epidemiological situation of the SARS-CoV-2 variants published by the Center for the Coordination of Health Alerts and Emergencies (CCAES) of the Ministry of Health.
The latest report covers the period up to July 25, and clearly deomonstrates how the B.1.617.2 variant continues to spread, to the detriment of the other strains detected in Spain, which continue to decline.
The percentage of cases estimated to relate to the gamma variant (P.1), identified for the first time in Brazil, and the beta (B.1.351), originating in South Africa, is in a range between between 0% and 18.3%.
The alpha variant, which was predominant in the first months of the year, "has been decreasing in all the communities at the same time as the delta variant has been increasing" and barely accounted for 6.7% of the cases sequenced by random sampling.
The delta remains dominant and is present in 77% of the cases, although it could even be 86% "if some cases are added in which the B.1.617 lineage has been reported without specifying the sublineage that, most likely, will also correspond to Delta ".
In these cases, the information collected comes from 13 communities that provide PCR data capable of detecting mutations compatible with the delta variant.
The Valencian Community is reporting the highest level, although all its data comes from a single hospital (96.4%) due to a limited capacity to carry out genome sequencing, followed by the Balearic Islands (91.8%); Navarra (86.2%); Cantabria (82.9%); Galicia (82.6%); Basque Country (81.7%); Madrid (81.3%); Aragon (80.8%); Canary Islands (80.5%). Below 80% are Andalusia (78%); Castilla y León (47.1%); Extremadura (25.2%) and La Rioja, although it must be taken into consideration that the data for the latter correspond to week 26, from June 28 to July 4.
However, without doubt it can be concluded that the predominant strain in Spain, is now, as predicted, the delta variant.
Image; GVA archive.