Is Delmicron a new COVID-19 variant? Here’s what you need to know

Is Delmicron the new coronavirus variant after Omicron? Several reports talking about ‘Delmicron’ have surfaced since yesterday. These reports claim that Delmicron is a combination of Delta and Omicron variants of the novel coronavirus. 

To clarify, there is no such COVID-19 variant as Delmicron and there is no information on another mutation of the SARS-CoV-2 virus after Omicron with health agencies. Global health agencies like the World Health Organisation (WHO), the US Centre for Disease Control (CDC) have not commented on the Delmicron variant. Notably, the Indian national COVID-19 task force and the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) have also not mentioned anything about this variant.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) names coronavirus variants with Greek letters in an alphabetic order. For instance, if there is a new coronavirus variant, it will be the alphabet that follows ‘Omicron’ – i.e., pi, rho, sigma, etc. These names are decided after widespread deliberations and a review of potential naming systems.

Following this, the WHO assigns labels for these variants – Variants of Interest (VoI) and Variants of Concern (VoC). While WHO assigns these names and labels, it also keeps the scientific names like the Omicron variant is scientifically called B.1.1.529.

How did the conversation around Delmicron begin? A member of Maharashta’s COVID-19 task force Dr Shashank Joshi had reportedly said on a News18 debate, “Delmicron, the twin spikes of Delta and Omicron, in Europe and US, has led to a mini tsunami of cases.” While some reports have also mentioned that there is a new variant named Delmicron, Dr Joshi's statement does not seem to refer to that.

Dr Joshi has reportedly alluded to a situation wherein Delta and Omicron variants cause a spike in COVID-19 cases in a particular region. Simply put, it is not a new variant of COVID-19 but a situation wherein both Delta and Omicron variants either are found present in the same COVID-19 patient or are spreading rapidly in the same region.

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