New variant of coronavirus discovered in the AZ Delta lab

There is now no indication that the variant is more contagious or more dangerous. Meanwhile, the corona infections are increasing, but there is no reason to panic.

“At the moment it concerns a mixture of omikron subtypes. There is no evidence that the new form is more dangerous or more contagious. What we do see is that this mixture, which is still being studied internationally, does seem to reproduce. So responsible is for new infections”, says Geert Martens of AZ Delta.

Still, hospital admissions are increasing. This may be partly due to the relaxation, but also due to the declining effect of the vaccine. This is not alarming, because at the current stage an infection often increases the resistance.