In a report released at a news conference in Dushanbe, the First Deputy Minister of Health and Social Protection of the Population, Ghafour Muhsinzoda, revealed on July 26 that the COVID Delta variant has spread to Tajikistan.  

We have sent several positive test results to the reference lab in London.  But according to the symptoms of the sick, we assume that the COVID Delta variant has already spread to the country.   Moreover, it has already circulated in neighboring countries,” Mr. Muhsinzoda said.  

“Most likely, COVID’s Delta variant has spread to Tajikistan from the Russian Federation,” Tajik health official noted.  

At the same time, Mr. Muhsinzoda noted that there was currently no need to introduce quarantine in the country.

“Our situation is not so critical as to introduce a general quarantine.  Before the introduction of quarantine, a huge amount of work has to be done in different directions.  This virus spreads much faster than the last year’s one.  Therefore, we urge everyone to comply with the rules.  Residents must understand this, be responsible and follow the recommendations of specialists, epidemiological standards,” the deputy minister added.

Recall, the Ministry of Health and Social Protection of Tajikistan (MoHSPP) last week said no cases of the coronavirus Delta variant have been registered in Tajikistan. 

Delta is the name for the B.1.617.2. variant, a SARS-CoV-2 mutation that originally surfaced in India. The first Delta case was identified in December 2020, and the strain spread rapidly, soon becoming the dominant strain of the virus in both India and then Great Britain.

The Delta variant was first detected in India last October and it led to a massive second wave of Covid-19 cases in the country.  Since then, the highly infectious strain has spread globally.

The World Health Organization (WHO) named it the Delta variant on 31 May 2021.

Public Health England (PHE) in May 2021 observed secondary attack rates to be 51–67% higher than the alpha variant.

On May 11, 2021, the WHO also classified this lineage VOC, and said that it showed evidence of higher transmissibility and reduced neutralization. The variant is thought to be partly responsible for India's second wave of the pandemic beginning in February 2021.  It later contributed to a third wave in Fiji, the United Kingdom and South Africa, and the WHO warned in July 2021 it could have a similar effect elsewhere in Europe and Africa.

On June 7, 2021, researchers at the National Centre for Infectious Diseases in Singapore posted a paper suggesting that patients testing positive for Delta are more likely to develop pneumonia and/or require oxygen than patients with wild type or Alpha. On June 15, 2021, the Center for Disease Control and Prevention declared Delta a variant of concern.