Indian variant 30-100% more transmissible, says UK COVID expert

The Delta variant of coronavirus, first discovered in India, is anywhere between 30% to 100% more transmissible than the previously dominant Alpha (or Kent) variant, according to Prof Neil Ferguson, whose Covid modelling was key to the UK’s first lockdown. Ferguson is a leading epidemiologist at Imperial College London who advised the government at the beginning of the pandemic. He told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “We’re certainly getting more data. Unfortunately, the news is not as positive as I would like in any respect about the Delta variant. The best estimate at the moment is this variant maybe 60% more transmissible than the Alpha [Kent] variant.