Global health experts have rapidly issued statements to cast doubt on the supposed new strain as reports spread on social media.
Health experts around the world are skeptical about claims of a new possible COVID-19 strain combining Delta and Omicron. What is being touted by a research group in Cyprus as a new variant is likely the result of lab contamination, experts say—there is, in all likelihood, no such thing as “Deltacron.”
Leondios Kostrikis, a biological scientist at the University of Cyprus, says he and his team found 25 cases of coronavirus infections that displayed mutations in the virus’s genetic signature, reminiscent of both the Omicron and Delta variants. To, which broke the story on Saturday, Kostrikis said their samples showed both Delta and Omicron patterns in the genome, creating a “Deltacron” variant.
As news of Deltacron began to trend on social media, global health experts quickly issued statements to cast doubt on the supposed new strain.on Sunday that “#Omicron and #Delta did NOT form a super variant,” and that “this is likely sequencing artifact .” Even before the new year, questions about whether two coronavirus strains could mutate and merge forces were circulating, leading to rumors that Imperial College London virologist Tom Peacock has frequently debunked. In a thread in late December, Peacock
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