Australia's Victoria state authorities say they have detected the highly infectious Delta (India) Covid-19 virus variant for the first time in the latest outbreak in Melbourne, stoking concerns of a major spike in cases.
The Delta variant, which has been classified by the World Health Organisation (WHO) as among the four Covid-19 variants of concern due to evidence that they spread more easily, likely caused the latest devastating outbreak in India. "It is a variant of significant concern," Victoria state Chief Health Officer Brett Sutton told reporters in Melbourne. "The fact that it is a variant different to other cases means it is not related, in terms of transmission, with these cases." Mr Sutton said the new variant had not been linked