The delta variant spreads much faster than other Covid-19 strains—and scientists may now know why.
People infected with the delta variant have more than 1,260 times the viral load—the concentration of viral particles in the body—than those with the original strain found in China, a group of scientists has reported in a preprint paper. A higher viral load can have many implications such as more severe disease. Its most significant contribution is to a virus’s higher transmissibility.