Delta Variant of Coronavirus Has Disappeared in Russia: Rospotrebnadzor

In Russia, there are virtually no cases of infection with the Delta variant of the coronavirus; however, it could return if its source remains somewhere, and the population loses immunity to this strain. This was announced by Kamil Khafizov, head of the scientific group at the epidemiological research institute of Rospotrebnadzor, as reported by RIA Novosti.

He stated that unique cases of infection with the Delta variant were recorded at the end of March and the beginning of April. Since then, the Delta variant has not been recorded, at least not among the samples sequenced and uploaded to the VGARus database.

Khafizov explained that once a majority of people acquire immunity to a particular strain, the conditions for that variant of the virus change, and it becomes less successful, giving way to other variants. The Delta variant, which has effectively disappeared, could also return if its source has been preserved somewhere, and the population gradually loses immunity to that strain. In that case, an increase in incidence associated with this variant could occur, although it may also not happen.