The variant affecting Fiji during this second wave of COVID-19 infections will now be referred to as Delta Plus.

The World Health Organization has introduced these new name labels for all coronavirus variants, to avoid stigmatization and victimization of any nation where the variant and its mutant strains were first identified.

Up until now, the second wave variant in Fiji has been referred to as the Indian variant.

Delta is the new name for B.1.617.2, the double mutant strain that was first identified in India last October.

The variant affecting us at the moment does not have a further specification of lineage at this time and hence it’s named Delta Plus.

There are 11 other nations who fall in this category.

Meanwhile, in the latest WHO epidemiological update, it says the Western Pacific, which includes Fiji, reported over 139 000 new cases, which is a six percent increase compared to the previous week and just under 2100 new deaths, a similar number to the previous week.

The numbers of both cases and deaths remain at the highest levels since the beginning of the pandemic.

Overall the number of new COVID-19 cases and deaths continues to decrease, with over 3.5 million new cases and 78 000 new deaths reported globally in the past week¬, a 15% and 7% decrease respectively, compared to the previous week.