<Anchor> The



daily life is slowly returning like this, but it is too early to be relieved. The World Health Organization has warned that a 'delta' mutation, a mutant coronavirus that originated in India, could become a global dominant species. It is spreading rapidly in several countries, including the UK and Russia, and there are also concerns that it may invalidate existing vaccines.



This is Reporter Jung Joon-hyung.



<Reporter> In



Moscow, the capital of Russia, yesterday (18th), more than 9,000 new cases of Corona 19 were confirmed a day.



Nearly 90% of them were infected with the delta mutation, a mutant virus from India.



[Tatyana Golikova / Deputy Prime Minister of Russia: The spread of the delta mutation is causing a serious increase in infection in the Moscow region.] In



the UK, where the delta mutation has spread, the transmission speed is getting faster.



The number of new confirmed cases, which had fallen to the level of 1,000 a day, has returned to the level of four months ago as it exceeded 10,000 for the past two days in a row.



The World Health Organization predicts that delta mutations originating in India could become the world's dominant species.



[Sumya Swaminatan/World Health Organization Chief Scientist: The delta mutation is in the process of becoming a global dominant species because of its remarkably high contagiousness.]



The delta mutation, first discovered in India in October of last year, has spread to more than 80 countries around the world. It was understood.



Concerns are also growing in the United States, where about 10% of new cases have recently been infected with the delta mutation.



[George Benjamin/American Public Health Association: If we are not careful, there is a high risk of delta mutations becoming the dominant species in the United States. Delta mutations are much more contagious and even more lethal.]



President Biden also said the delta mutation is lethal, and repeatedly encouraged vaccination.



Experts are also concerned that the delta mutation, which is 60% more contagious than the existing UK mutant virus, could evolve to a stage that incapacitates the COVID-19 vaccine.



(Video editing: Lee Seung-yeol)