Israeli researchers warned of the likely resurgence of Delta to overtake Omicron to be the prevailing COVID-19 variant in the next two months, according to The Xinhua News Agency reports.
Researchers found "this disturbing interaction between the Omicron and Delta variants" after monitoring sewage water in a southern Israel city for two months, Israel's Ben Gurion University (BGU), which led the study, said in a statement.
The researchers then used a lab model of wastewater detection and found that, contrary to their expectation, the Delta variant is circulating in a "cryptic" way even when the highly contagious Omicron is increasing.
People dine at a shopping mall in central Israeli city of Modiin. Photo by Gil Cohen Magen/Xinhua.
Based on a more developed model, they suggested that the Omicron levels will decrease until eliminated while Delta maintains its circulation, which leads to its resurgence.
The study also recommended using wastewater as a key indicator of where the coronavirus is active even when PCR and rapid testing of people shows a decline.
The research, supported by the Israeli Health Ministry, was published online last week in the peer-reviewed journal Science of the Total Environment.
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