COVID-19 Variants: A Comparative Analysis

The COVID-19 virus has taken on various forms ever since it was first discovered. Viruses constantly change due to mutation. When a virus undergoes one or more mutations, it is called a variant. Coronavirus has caused several variants across the globe.

Once a virus enters the physical body, its genetic material enters the cells and starts making copies of itself, which may infect other cells. Whenever a blunder occurs during this copying process, it triggers a mutation. COVID-19 mutations of significance are divided into three types.

They are:

• Variant of Interest
• Variant of Concern
• Variant of High Consequence.

Variant	Originated from	Month and Year	Countries Affected	Symptoms
Alpha Variant	United Kingdom	62 countries, including Canada, Italy, and the United States.	122 countries, including the United States.	Chills, loss of appetite, headache, and muscle aches.
Beta Variant	South Africa	May 2020	62 countries, including Canada, Italy, and the United States.	50% more transmissible, severe infections.
Gamma Variant	Brazil	November 2020	62 countries, including Canada, Italy, United States.	Body aches, sore throat, diarrhoea, conjunctivitis, headache, loss of taste or smell.
Delta Variant	India	2020	96 countries, including Singapore, France, Spain, the UK, and the USA.	Persistent cough, headache, fever, and sore throat. Headache, sore throat, runny nose, and fever seem to be more common.
Delta Plus Variant	India	2020	Minimum 50 countries, which include the USA, Canada, Ireland, and Australia.	Skin rash, change in the color of the toes, sore throat, shortness of breath, loss of smell, diarrhea, headache, or runny nose, etc.
Kappa Variant	India	December 2020	Minimum 30 countries, including Chile, Mexico, Germany, and Argentina.	Rashes everywhere on the body, high fever, cough, runny nose, and red and watery eyes.
Lambda Variant	Peru	December 2020	Loss of smell, taste, fever, and cough.	Minimum 50 countries, which include the USA, Canada, Ireland, and Australia.