Deltacron: The New COVID-19 Variant

The World Health Organization (WHO) identified a new COVID-19 variant, Deltacron, originating from the combination of genes of Delta and Omicron variants. To date, it has been detected in France, Netherlands and Denmark.

WHO had previously forecasted more COVID-19 variants due to the virus previous behavior and the large amount of circulation of both Delta and Omicron. The Deltacron variant has not shown any changes in epidemiology or severity but it is still too early to draw up conclusions given the small number cases, said Maria Van Kerkhove, COVID-19 Technical Lead, WHO.

The WHO Technical Advisory Group on COVID-19 Vaccine Composition (TAG-CO-VAC) warned that current vaccines might need to be updated due to the consistent evolution of the virus, as reported by MBN.

Testing and monitoring remain critical parts of the COVID-19 response because health workers need information to save lives, said Van Kerkhove. “We need to keep a good handle on this virus, we need a good system in place to be able to check the changes and understand them,” she said.

Although Deltacron has not arrived in Mexico and Omicron contagions have decreased, the virus continues affecting various industries such as automotive, logistics, tourism, retail and aerospace. “Throughout the pandemic, we had a significant drop in terminal passenger traffic... January was a difficult month due to the emergence of the omicron variant but we believe that the impact will be short-lived,” said Ricardo Dueñas, CEO, Grupo Aeroportuario del Centro Norte (OMA) to MBN.

The automotive industry has also been impacted by the Omicron variant. Total production contracted by 1.0 percent annually due to the pandemic and the shortage of semiconductors.