The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said Thursday that the number of U.S. COVID-19 cases rose 10% this week as the highly contagious Delta variant spreads across the nation.
During a White House briefing, CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky the nation’s lagging vaccination rate along with the “hypertransmissible Delta variant” could account for the surge.
The Delta variant, which was first identified in India, now accounts for a quarter of all new cases and has been detected in all 50 states, according to TODAY.
Dr. Walensky said the Delta variant’s rapid spread in the United States is sure to make it the dominant strain within the coming weeks.
She said the seven-day average of new COVID cases this week was about 12,600 cases, up 10% compared to the average of the last week.
The recent surge is nowhere close to the January peak of over 247,000 cases per day, but the sudden shift has made some experts “a little nervous.”
Infectious disease expert Dr. Cameron Wolfe of the Duke University School of Medicine said, “I don’t want the trend line to put us in a position where it can really take off,” especially as fall approaches and people start congregating indoors.
Former acting director of the CDC Dr. Richard Besser said, “I expect that we are going to see the number of cases around the country going up as the delta variant spreads.”
“The reason for that is that a significant number of people in America are still not vaccinated,” explained Dr. Besser, who is the president of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.
The CDC said more than 57% of American adults had been fully vaccinated as of Thursday.
Dr. Walensky said, “It is clear that communities where people remain unvaccinated are communities that remain vulnerable.”
“For now, the uptick in COVID-19 cases does not appear to translate into more severe disease, at least on a national level,” she added. “The seven-day average of COVID-19 hospitalizations across the U.S. has fallen by about 1% from last week.”
The CDC director went on to say, “As the delta variant continues to spread across the country, we expect to see increased transmission in these communities unless we can vaccinate more people now.”
Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation’s top infectious disease specialist, said the vaccines work well against all the variants of the coronavirus in the U.S., including the highly contagious Delta variant.
“If you are vaccinated, you have a very high degree of protection,” he added. “If you are not, you should wear a mask, and you should think very seriously about getting vaccinated. The message is: Get vaccinated.”
Dr. Fauci is the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID).
Meanwhile, the Biden administration has been pushing for 70% of U.S. adults to get at least one dose by the Fourth of July. However, last week, the administration acknowledged that it would fall short of that goal.
The CDC said more than 66% of American adults had received at least one dose as of Thursday. The article was published on TODAY.
