Coronavirus: Son Espases detects the first two cases of the "Delta Plus" variant in the Balearic Islands

The Microbiology service of the Son Espases hospital has detected two cases of the “Delta Plus” variant in Mallorca, which, according to the Conselleria de Salut y Consum, “does not appear to be more aggressive than the standard Delta present in the Balearic Islands and does not show greater resistance to the vaccines that are currently being administered against COVID-19 ”.

In a press release, the Ministry explains that the samples from which the two cases related to the Delta Plus subvariant of COVID-19 have been selected, in their entirety, have been randomly selected.

All the sequenced samples correspond to the Delta variant, which is the only one currently present in the Balearic Islands, with the particularity that these two correspond to the AY 4.2 sublineage.

Although this new subvariant of COVID-19, according to scientific evidence, could have a greater contagion capacity (between 10 and 15%), it does not appear to be more aggressive than the “standard” Delta. Even so, the Microbiology laboratory of the Son Espases Hospital will continue with genomic sequencing studies to follow the evolution and surveillance of the coronavirus pandemic in the Balearic Islands.