.TheDohertyInst Director ProfSharonLewin says is it her “strong hypothesis” that the highly infectious ‘Delta’ variant of COVID-19 emerged out of hotel quarantine.
Doherty Institute Director Professor Sharon Lewin says is it her “strong hypothesis” that the highly infectious ‘Delta’ variant of COVID-19 emerged out of hotel quarantine. Victorian health authorities revealed on Friday genomic sequencing had linked the two West Melbourne cases to the Delta strain, which, in the United Kingdom, has accounted for an estimated 75% of new coronavirus cases in the United Kingdom.
Professor Lewin says it was unlikely that the new variant could have mutated in Australia. "My strong hypothesis is that it is coming through an importation from overseas, through our quarantine hotel system,” she said. "It would be most unlikely to have mutated in Australia. “These two variants, Kappa and Delta, are related, they were both originally described in India, but they are very different.
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