'My Plans vs Delta Variant' is the Latest Meme Keeping People Company in Isolation as Cases Surge

Another year of social distancing and staying at home? The ‘Delta’ variant of Covid-19, which was first sequenced in India during the second wave in the country, was confirmed by the World Health Organization to have spread to 135 countries in the first week of August. The number of infections is currently rising sharply, driven primarily by the spread of the highly contagious Delta variant, but the number of deaths is increasing at a slower rate, shows AFP data. The Delta variant grew to become the dominant variant in India due to its improved ability to jump to new hosts, a study in June, suggested. The finding shows the unique set of mutations makes the virus more infective, leads to a higher viral load in people, and causes larger outbreak clusters.

What does this imply for people who were ready for ‘hot girl summer’ and fall plans? It may mean that despite two doses of the vaccine, you still have a chance of contracting the virus and still have severe effects. For millenials and Gen-Z who were waiting to finally go maskless, they complained of the variant ruining their plans the way they express best: With memes.

The Covid-19 Weekly Epidemiological Update dated August 3, released by WHO, said globally 132 countries have reported cases of the Beta variant and 81 countries of the Gamma variant. It said the cases of Alpha variant have been reported in 182 countries, territories or areas, while 135 countries have reported cases of the Delta variant, which was first identified in India.

The global number of new cases has been increasing for more than a month, with over 4 million cases reported in the past week - July 26 to August 1, the update said.

This increasing trend is largely attributed to substantial increases in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Western Pacific Regions which reported 37 per cent and 33 per cent increases respectively as compared to the previous week, while the South-East Asia Region reported a 9 per cent increase, it said. Overall, the number of deaths reported this week decreased by 8 per cent as compared to the previous week, with over 64,000 deaths reported.

Patients infected with the variant were at nearly twice the risk of being hospitalized, compared with those infected with the earlier alpha variant. The patients also were younger, presumably because they were last in line to be vaccinated, the authors said.

Reportedly, the scientists also found that the Delta variant had a replication advantage over Alpha variant in the lab and as per samples of over 100 healthcare workers from three Delhi hospitals who got breakthrough infections were sequenced, most of them were caused by the Delta variant.

The delta variant is much more contagious, more likely to break through protections afforded by the vaccines and may cause more severe disease than all other known versions of the virus, according to an internal presentation circulated within the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The delta variant is more transmissible than the viruses that cause MERS, SARS, Ebola, the common cold, the seasonal flu and smallpox, and it is as contagious as chickenpox, according to the document, a copy of which was obtained by The New York Times.

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