The Delta variant of Covid-19 also known as B. 1.617, was first detected late last year in India, then spread to dozens of other countries, and now dominant in South Africa which accounted for more than a half of Africa’s cases by the end of June.

The more transmissible Delta variant has been detected in at least ten African countries, among which Uganda, Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwanda as well.

Scientific evidence shows a possible existence of delta variant among local cases in Rwanda, said Dr Daniel Ngamije, health minister, while appearing on the state broadcaster on Thursday. He added that an investigation was still going on.

The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates Delta is 55% more transmissible than the Alpha variant (first detected in UK), which was itself around 50% more transmissible than the original Wuhan virus.

Symptoms from Delta variant infection

Professor Tim Spector, of Zoe Application which tracks symptoms from infected people, talking to BBC, said that people have reported symptoms such as a headache, sore throat and runny nose, added to the known Covid-19 signs such as fever, loss of taste and smell

What is causing the virus to replicate?

When a virus is widely circulating in a population and causing many infections, the likelihood of the virus mutating increases. The more opportunities a virus has to spread, the more it replicates and undergoes changes, WHO explains.

Most viral mutations have little to no impact on the virus’s ability to cause infections and disease. But depending on where the changes are located in the virus’s genetic material, they may affect a virus’s properties, such as transmission or severity.

"We need to do everything possible to stop the spread of the virus in order to prevent mutations that may reduce the efficacy of existing vaccines,” WHO advises.

How effective are vaccines against the variant?

WHO reports that the Covid-19 vaccines that are currently in development or have been approved are expected to provide at least some protection against new variants.

"These vaccines elicit a broad immune response involving a range of antibodies and cells. Therefore, mutations in the virus should not make vaccines completely ineffective.”

"If any of these vaccines prove to be less effective against one or more variants, it will be possible to change the composition of the vaccines to protect against these variants.”

On that note, CNN reported that the drugmaker Pfizer seek emergency use authorization from the US Food and Drug Administration for a booster dose in August.

What ways to protect ourselves?

WHO continues saying that stopping the spread at the source remains key. Adding;

Current measures to reduce transmission – including frequent hand washing, wearing a mask, physical distancing, and good ventilation and avoiding crowded places or closed settings – continue to work against new variants.

These reduce the amount of viral transmission and therefore also reducing opportunities for the virus to mutate.

Scaling up vaccine manufacturing and rolling out vaccines as quickly and widely as possible will also be critical ways of protecting people before they are exposed to the virus and the risk of new variants.

Priority should be given to vaccinating high-risk groups everywhere to maximize global protection against new variants and minimize the risk of transmission. Moreover, ensuring equitable access to COVID-19 vaccines is more critical than ever to address the evolving pandemic.

To what extent is Rwanda likely to be affected?

"It’s alarming, people who are contaminated are very infectious and can transmit to others,” said Dr. Daniel Ngamije, the Minister of Health in an interview with The New Times.

This should push people to be more cautious and adhere to the already existing guidelines, he said.

To reduce the exposure, there is going to be reinforcement in preventive measures, he said; "In home-based care, strict compliance to self-isolation will be expanded to the whole family, if at least one person tests positive, the whole family will have to get tested.”

Testing facilities are going to be increased, "We are planning to increase availability of testing posts at cell level where they can use those services to cross-check their status.”

"We are also considering localized lockdowns in areas where cases are most prominent,” he added.