Australia finds highly infectious Delta variant in Melbourne virus outbreak

FILE PHOTO: Healthcare workers administer coronavirus disease (COVID-19) tests at a drive-through testing centre on the first day of a seven-day lockdown, as the state of Victoria looks to curb the spread of an outbreak in Melbourne, Australia, May 28, 2021. REUTERS/Sandra Sanders

SYDNEY (Reuters) -Australia's Victoria state authorities said on Friday they had detected the highly infectious Delta COVID-19 virus variant for the first time in the latest outbreak in Melbourne, stoking concerns of a major spike in cases.

The Delta variant, which has been classified by the World Health Organisation (WHO) as among the four COVID-19 variants of concern due to evidence that they spread more easily, likely caused the latest devastating outbreak in India.