LONDON: Britain (U.K.) has reported 35,204 new coronavirus cases of the Delta variant first identified in India in the latest week, marking a 46 percent increase, Public Health England (PHE) said Friday. As per reports by Sky News, the total number of confirmed Delta cases now stands at 111,157 -- with 102,019 of these recorded in England, 7,738 in Scotland, 788 in Wales and 612 in Northern Ireland. The Delta variant, first identified in India, now comprises 95 percent of all sequenced cases in the UK, PHE added.

Last week, it made up 99 percent of Covid cases across the UK, with about 42 of the latest cases belonging to the Delta plus variant (AY.1 sub-lineage) -- thought to be more transmissible than the original Delta variant.

The Public Health England also reported of a new strain, Lambda. It has been categorised as a variant under investigation with six cases detected between February 23 and June 7. Of these, five had been linked to overseas travel. It has asserted that two doses of vaccine are still effective at providing protection against the risk of hospitalisation. It added that there is currently no evidence that the new variant causes more severe disease or renders vaccines less effective, the report said.

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