Geneva, 21 July 2021 (dpa/MIA) - The list of countries where the Delta variant of the coronavirus has been detected grew by 13 in the span of a week and now stands at 124, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). The WHO cited two studies on Wednesday, neither of which has been published in a peer-reviewed journal. Both underscore the variant's danger. The first study, from China, examined people who had been quarantined after coming into contact with someone infected with the variant. Their PCR (polymerase chain reaction) tests came back positive after four days, on average, rather than the usual six days seen with earlier virus variants. The viral load of the first positive test was also 1,200 times higher than with earlier virus variants. The study suggests that "this [virus of concern] may be able to replicate faster and be more infectious during the early stages of infection," said the WHO. The second study, from Canada, found that people who had Covid-19 from the Delta variant also had significantly higher health risks than earlier types: The risk of needing hospitalization was increased by about 120 per cent, and the risk of needing intensive care by about 287 per cent. The risk of death was about 137 per cent higher. The number of new coronavirus infections reported worldwide increased by 12 per cent, to about 3.4 million, in the week ending July 18. According to the report, the largest number of recorded new cases were in Indonesia (up 44 per cent) and Britain (up 41 per cent).