The Corona virus is now evolving into several variants. Why does this happen? This is a simple explanation from scientists about the emergence of the Corona variant.
Dr Rob Orford is the Welsh government's chief health adviser. How the Corona virus can have multiple variants including the more contagious Delta, he gave an overview.
"Viruses need people to make more copies of themselves and copy the code. Every time the virus makes a new copy, there is a chance for errors to appear," he explained.
"If I write the letters of the alphabet a thousand times, there is a chance that I might make some random mistake that might lead to a new word. If I ask you to copy it, you might as well make your own mistakes," he added.
"Well, some of those mistakes lead to mutations that benefit the virus. Maybe it makes it easier to stick to cells, easier to gain access so through this evolution we see different mutations. Some are good for this virus, some are not," he adding
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He hopes more people are vaccinated to prevent the virus. According to him, the Corona virus may not be completely eradicated so maybe one day people will have to learn to live with it.
"Just a week is a long time for science so it's hard to predict what will happen in the next six months but I hope the vaccine proves to be very effective," he said.
There are already several variants of the Corona virus. To overcome the complicated naming confusion and at the same time remove the geographical stigma, the World Health Organization (WHO) has created a naming scheme for Corona virus variants.
The names are taken from the Greek alphabet, and are divided into two groups: variants of attention (VoC) and variants of interest (VoI). This naming is expected to give a more "neutral" effect. Previously, naming based on an early identified place was considered to corner certain countries. Variants of concern include Alpha, Beta, Gamma and Delta.
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