‘Deltacron’ Covid variant mixing Omicron and Delta isn’t real, scientists say

Scientists have cast doubt over the discovery of the so-called ‘Deltacron’ Covid strain, which is said to combine the Delta and Omicron variants of the virus.

Yesterday it was reported the new strain of the coronavirus had been discovered in 25 cases by experts at the University of Cyprus.

They found that 11 out of those with the reported cases had been admitted to hospital following infection. But a World Health Organisation (WHO) scientist has dismissed the strain, the Mirror has reported.

Imperial College virologist Dr Tom Peacock claims the anomaly appears to be the result of contamination between Delta and Omicron and does not meet the criteria for a new variant.WHO Covid expert Dr Krutika Kuppalli also wrote on Twitter: “Deltacron is not real and is likely due to sequencing artefact (lab contamination of Omicron sequence fragments in a Delta specimen).“Let’s not merge of names of infectious diseases and leave it to celebrity couples.”The response from the scientific community came after Leondios Kostrikis, professor of biological sciences at the University of Cyprus, said his team had discovered 25 Covid samples which appeared to combine the Delta and Omicron strains.Did you know you can keep up to date with the latest news by signing up to our daily newsletter?We send a morning and lunchtime newsletter covering the latest headlines every day.We also send coronavirus updates at 5pm on weekdays, and a round up of the week's must-read stories on Sunday afternoons.Signing up is simple, easy and free.You can pop your email address into the sign up box above, hit Subscribe and we'll do the rest.Alternatively, you can sign up and check out the rest of our newsletters here.He told reporters: "There are currently