Malta has found its first case of the Indian ‘Delta’ variant of Covid-19, health chief Charmaine Gauci announced on Friday.

In her weekly briefing, Gauci said that the first case of the Indian variant – which is now known as the ‘Delta variant’ – was found on Thursday evening.

She said that the case is being investigated by health authorities.

48.6% of Malta’s cases have been of the original strain of Covid-19, while the remainder are made up of different variants

The UK variant of the virus – known now as the ‘Alpha variant’ – has accounted for 47% of Malta’s cases, while 30 cases of the Brazilian variant – known now as the ‘Gamma variant’ – have also been found.  This is equivalent to 3.7%.

 Six cases of the South African variant meanwhile have also been found – equivalent to 0.7% of cases.

The first case of the Indian ‘Delta’ variant was reported on Friday.

Early evidence suggests the Indian variant may lead to an increased risk of being admitted to hospital compared with the UK variant, and the variant is now considered to be the dominant strain in countries such as the UK.

In the last week, 94 people in England were admitted to hospital after attending A&E with the Delta variant. The majority had not yet been vaccinated, but6% had had both jabs.