Cyprus found a new variant of coronavirus infection, it is a hybrid of the previously identified strains of Delta and Omicron. Scientists from the Laboratory of Biotechnology and Molecular Virology of the Cyprus University, who revealed a new variety of the disease, gave him the name “Deltacron”. This was stated by the head of the Laboratory Leontios Kostrikis, who had previously headed the Scientific Advisory Council for the Combating Pandemic at the Cyprus Ministry of Health, reports TASS.
According to him, Deltacron strain COVID-19 has a genetic basis as a delta version, but a number of its mutations are similar to the mutations of the Omicron-strain of coronavirus. “We found a significant amount of mutations that were previously discovered only during the cases of infection by Omikron-strain,” said Kostrikis. He added that “Oomikron” 30 mutations, and ten of them coincide with those found in samples taken in Cyprus.
The head of the laboratory also stressed that in Cyprus Deltacron strain was discovered in 25 samples, of which 11 belong to the people hospitalized with coronavirus, the rest – among ordinary residents of the republic.
Previously, scientists evoned that the entry of new strains of coronavirus in an animal environment can lead to serious mutations of the virus and new outbreaks of the disease. Experts do not exclude that the mutational potential of the virus is not exhausted and the pandemic will not be completed only on the Omicron strain.