File photo: Researchers have not officially named this recombinant virus. Picture: AP
Beijing: As the Delta and Omicron variants of the novel coronavirus are rampant across the world, scientific researchers have proved that “Deltacron", a hybrid form of the two variants, has emerged and that the global anti-pandemic efforts cannot be eased.
According to the Global Initiative on Sharing All Influenza Data (GISAID), there are "reliable evidences" showing that the recombinant form of the Delta and Omicron variants has emerged.
The World Health Organization (WHO) confirmed at a press conference recently that this recombinant virus had been detected in countries such as France, the Netherlands and Denmark.
In January, professor of biological sciences Leondios Kostrikis, at the University of Cyprus, announced that he had discovered a new strain of the coronavirus. It combined characteristics of the Delta and Omicron variants. He named it "Deltacron".
After that, some countries detected the recombinant virus one after another.
Researchers have not officially named this recombinant virus.
On March 9, Dr Maria Van Kerkhove, a technical lead of the WHO's Health Emergencies Program, told a press conference that WHO has "not seen any change in the epidemiology with this recombinant, we haven't seen any change in severity but there are many studies that are under way“.
Kerkhove reiterated that "the pandemic is far from over and not only do we need to focus on saving people's lives and reducing severe disease and death, we also have to focus on reducing the spread".