Regulator reveals Delta variant accounts for 83 percent of new virus infections

*The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention notes this figure is a dramatic increase from up from 50 percent in week of July 3, declaring cases to continue rising in areas with low vaccination rates

Isola Moses | ConsumerConnect

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has disclosed that the highly transmissible Coronavirus (COVID-19) Delta variant, first discovered October 2020, is now responsible for the majority of all virus cases in the United States (US).

ConsumerConnect learnt Dr. Rochelle Walensky, CDC Director at the country’s Senate hearing Tuesday, July 20 revealed the variant is estimated to make up 83 percent of all sequenced COVID-19 cases in the country.

Dr. Walensky stated: “This is a dramatic increase from up from 50%, the week of July 3,” She noted that fatalities stemming from the virus have risen by nearly 48% over the past week to an average of 239 per day.

“Each death is tragic and even more heartbreaking when we know that the majority of these deaths could be prevented with a simple, safe available vaccine.”

Why cases keep rising

According to CDC, the Delta variant is circulating mainly in parts of the US with low vaccination rates.

Walensky said that nearly two-thirds of the counties in the country have vaccinated less than 40% of their residents, “allowing for the emergence and rapid spread of the highly transmissible delta variant.

“In areas where vaccine coverage is low, cases and hospitalizations are starting to climb again.”

Earlier, report had indicated that the Delta variant of the pandemic was first identified in India.

However, but data from the World Health Organisation (WHO) showed that it has since spread to more than 100 countries across the world, including Ghana, Nigeria and South Africa on the African continent.

Meanwhile, Dr. Anthony Fauci, foremost American scientist, infectious diseases expert and Medical Adviser to President Joe Biden, said during the hearing, that “the reason it’s so formidable is the fact that it has the capability of transmitting efficiently from human to human in an extraordinary manner, well beyond any of the other variants that we’ve experienced, up to now.”

Kindly Share This Story