A report published by the Health Protection Surveillance Centre (HPSC) has shown one new variant detected in Ireland and a new mutation of Delta, AY.3.
There are now five variants of concern in Ireland, including the new sublineage of the Delta strain, while there are nine of interest - including Lambda, which is currently understood to be less transmissible than others.
Up to August 7, there have been 4,200 Delta cases, and 45 AY.3, while just 4 Lambda infections have been recorded so far.
So here’s everything we know about the current variants of concern in Ireland from their origin to the number of cases:
Alpha
This variant emerged in England back in September 2020 and was responsible for a winter surge in cases resulting in widespread lockdowns across the U.K.
It has now been reported in at least 173 countries, according to the WHO and it’s thought that it may pose a more serious threat to women than men.
Here in Ireland, the transmission of this variant is now widespread, with 15,954 cases of COVID-19 confirmed to have been infected with it since December 2020.
73.4% of sequenced COVID-19 cases reported between March and August 2021 were infected with the B.1.1.7 (Alpha) variant.
Beta
This variant was detected in South Africa on December 18, 2020.
The first case of the Beta variant was then identified in Ireland in the week starting December 20.
A total of just 77 COVID-19 cases have been confirmed to have been infected with this variant in Ireland to date.
Gamma
This strain was first detected by the National Institute of Infectious Diseases (NIID) in Japan, on January 6, 2021 in four people who had arrived in Tokyo after visiting Brazil four days earlier.
The first case of the Gamma variant of concern was detected at the end of January this year in Ireland.
However, to date, this variant has been confirmed in only 30 cases in Ireland.
Delta
The Delta variant continues to be the most prominent strain of concern across the globe.
This umbrella variant has three sub lineages with different mutations which are ; B.1.617.1 (Kappa), B.1.617.2 (Delta) and B.1.617.3 - while Delta now has its own sublineage strain, AY.3.
All three were initially classified as variants of concern, however, on monitoring the evolving situation, the WHO decided Delta was the only one raising continuous concern as the other two were declining steadily.
Up to August 7, 4,200 cases of COVID-19 infected with B.1.617.2 (Delta) were reported here.
Additionally, cases from seven other variants have also been identified in small numbers which are; P.2 (Zeta), B.1.525 (Eta), B.1.526 (Iota), B.1.1.318, B.1.429 (Epsilon), A.27, and C.37 (Lambda) - all of them are currently just variants of interest rather than concern.
