Covid-19: Delta variant 40% more transmissible, says UK health minister

London - The Delta variant is now the dominant strain in the UK.

The Delta variant of the coronavirus is estimated to be 40 per cent more transmissible than the Alpha variant that caused the last wave of infections in the UK, Britain’s health minister said Sunday.

But people who have received two doses of vaccine, should be equally protected against either variant, he added.

“That figure, around 40 per cent more transmissible, is indeed the latest advice I have,” Health Secretary Matt Hancock told Sky News.

The Delta variant is now the dominant strain in the UK, according to Public Health England figures.

It was the Alpha variant, previously known as the Kent variant, that forced the UK into lockdown in January.

Hancock said the 40 per cent figure came from the government body of scientific advisors, SAGE.

Concerns are mounting over whether the emergence of the Delta variant threatens the government’s provisional June 21 deadline for lifting virus restrictions.

Hancock acknowledged that the Delta variant “does make the calculation more difficult for June 21”.

“We’ll look at the data for another week and then make a judgement,” he told the BBC on Sunday, stressing that the government was “absolutely open” to delaying the lifting of restrictions.