More than 90 per cent of Covid-19 patients have been infected by the Delta variant of the virus, a survey conducted by the Department of Medical Science revealed. The Nation

Delta variant of Covid-19 fast becoming mainstream, survey shows

More than 90 per cent of Covid-19 patients have been infected by the Delta variant of the virus, a survey conducted by the Department of Medical Science revealed.

"The department has been studying new infections every week and of the 1,632 samples surveyed last week, 1,499 or 91.9 per cent had been infected by the Delta variant, formerly known as the Indian strain," the department's director-general Dr Supphakit Siriluck said on Tuesday. "Of the samples, 129 or 7.9 per cent had picked up the Alpha variant or UK strain, while four or 0.2 per cent had the Beta or South African strain."

No other strains of Covid-19 have been detected in Thailand so far.

Of the 1,632 samples, 1,157 were collected in Bangkok, 95.4 per cent of whom had picked up the Delta variant and the rest Alpha variant. The remaining 475 samples had been collected from the provinces, where 83.2 per cent were found to have been infected by Delta and 16 per cent by the Alpha variant.

"The trend of infections in Thailand shows that the Delta variant is fast becoming mainstream and can be found in every province, while the Alpha variant will eventually cease to exist," Supphakit said. "As for the Beta variant, it will remain in southern provinces and not spread to other regions. Currently, there are 354 patients with the Beta variant in Narathiwat, four in Phuket and one in Phatthalung.

"Unlike Delta, the Beta variant spreads more slowly and is, therefore, easier to contain," he added.