A strain of COVID-19, a combination of both Delta and Omicron variants, has been detected in Cyprus, stated Leondios Kostrikis, professor of biological sciences at the University of Cyprus and the chief of the Laboratory of Biotechnology and Molecular Virology.

Kostrikis said that at present, there are Omicron and Delta co-infections and that they have identified a strain which is a combination of these two. They have named it "Deltacron" as it has Omicron-like genetic signatures within the Delta genomes. Kostrikis and colleagues found 25 such cases and a statistical analysis revealed that the relative frequency of combined infection appears to be more among patients hospitalized due to COVID-19 in comparison with non-hospitalized patients. The sequences of the 25 cases of Deltacron were sent to GISAID on January 7.

Kostrikis said that it remains to be seen if this strain is more pathological or more transmissible… (NDTV – Bloomberg, January 10, 2022)