The United States has asked world leaders to deliver video statements to the United Nations General Assembly instead of flying to New York for a meeting in September as the Delta variant of the coronavirus spreads all over the world, PTI reported on Sunday.

The UN General Debate, an annual gathering of the world’s politicians, is scheduled between September 21 and 27.

In July, the United Nations had given the leaders the option to send pre-recorded speeches for the meeting in case they could not travel to New York because of Covid-related restrictions, according to the AP.

In a letter to United Nation’s member states last week, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, the US’ ambassador to the UN, said her country had the responsibility of ensuring the safety of the participants.

“We need your help to prevent UNGA [United Nations General Assembly] 76 High-Level Week from being a super-spreader event,” she said in the letter, according to PTI. “Heads of delegation should consider delivering their statements to the UN General Assembly’s General Debate by video. If delegations choose to travel to New York, we request delegations bring the minimum number of travellers necessary.”

As many as 127 world leaders, including US President Joe Biden and India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi are planning to attend the annual gathering in person, according to AP. The politicians participating in the event include heads of states as well as ministers.

Also read: Coronavirus: India records 30,948 new cases, 10.18% lower than Saturday’s infection count

Meanwhile, the United States has been recording a surge in Covid-19 cases. On Friday, the country’s weekly tally of infections crossed 10 lakh, Bloomberg reported. New York city has been recording 1,900 daily cases on an average, a huge increase from 300 cases per day in June, according to The Guardian.

In the backdrop of the sharp increase in cases, Thomas-Greenfield called for other events related to the UN meeting to also be held in virtual mode. She said that in-person events would “needlessly increase risk to our community, New Yorkers and the other travelers”.

The highly-infectious Delta variant has sparked global concern as vaccines are also showing reduced effectiveness against the strain. On Wednesday, the United States’ Department of Health and Human Services recommended booster doses of Covid-19 vaccines for all adults, noting that the protection offered by the shots diminished over time.

Globally, Covid-19 has infected more than 21.13 crore people and led to over 44.22 lakh deaths since the beginning of the pandemic in December 2019, according to Johns Hopkins University.