Matt Hancock: Delta variant ‘40% more transmissible’

The Delta variant of the coronavirus is estimated to be 40 percent more transmissible than the Alpha variant that caused the last wave of infections in the UK, Britain’s Health Secretary Matt Hancock said.

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

“That figure, around 40 percent more transmissible, is indeed the latest advice I have,” Hancock told Sky News.

The Delta variant, also known as the Indian 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 percent 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”.