U.S. counties in the South and West are seeing an increase in coronavirus cases as the Indian 'Delta' variant continues to spr...
U.S. counties in the South and West are seeing an increase in coronavirus cases as the Indian 'Delta' variant continues to spread rapidly in undervaccinated areas.
Areas in states such as Alabama, Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Wyoming are reporting between 100 and 500 cases per 100,000 people over the last seven days, according to a recent report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
This is much higher than the national average of 23.9 infections per 100,000.
Health officials say low vaccination rates are the problem and that the virus is transmitting rapidly in undervaccinated regions of the U.S.
All five states have vaccinated fewer than 35 percent of their total populations, which is lower than the national average of 45.6 percent, CDC data show.
The states are also all reporting a rise in cases linked to the Delta variant, with some saying more than half of all new infections are associated with the strain.
Former FDA commissioner Dr Scott Gottlieb has warned that America is likely to see constrained outbreaks of the Delta variant in certain communities rather than widespread outbreaks.
'It's not going to be as pervasive,' he said in an appearance on CBS' Face the Nation on Sunday,
'It's going to hyper-regionalized. There's certain pockets of the country where you're going to have very dense outbreaks.'
Meanwhile, Los Angeles residents are being urged to mask up again - two weeks after the county dropped its mask mandate - amid concerns about the variant.
It comes as the variant continues to ravage the UK, with Delta driving an explosion of new cases, and COVID-19 infections up 75 percent from a week ago, but deaths have not risen.
Counties in Alabama, Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Wyoming (marked in red) reported between 100 and 500 cases per 100,000 in the last week, compared to the national average of 23.9 cases per 100,000
Arkansas has seen an average of 300 cases per day in the last week, an increase from 200 the last month, and 56% of all cases and, in Mississippi, there has been 18% increase in the seven-day rolling average of cases from 111 to 132
All five states have fully vaccinated 35% or fewer residents, lower than the national average of 45.6%, and only three counties between the five have fully vaccinated more than 50%
As of Tuesday, the variant accounts for 20.6 percent of all COVID-19 infections, up from 9.9 percent two weeks ago, according to the CDC.
Known as B.1.617.2, the Delta variant has been labeled as a 'double mutant' by India's Health Ministry because it carries two mutations: L452R and E484Q.
L452R is the same mutation seen with the California homegrown variant and E484Q is similar to the mutation seen in the Brazilian and South African variants.
Both of the mutations occur on key parts of the virus that allows it to enter and infect human cells.
Gottlieb says he believes that the massive surge in cases in the UK is a foreshadowing of what's to come in the U.S.
That means the 20 percent figure is only expected to rise.
'I think as you look across the United States, if you're a community that has low vaccination rates and you also think that there was low immunity from prior infection, so the virus really hasn't coursed through the local population, those communities are vulnerable,' he told Face the Nation .
'So, I think governors need to be thinking about how they build out health care resources in areas of the country where you still have a lot of vulnerability.'
Only three counties in Alabama, Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Wyoming have fully vaccinated more than 50 percent of residents.
In one of the states - Arkansas - officials report that only has 35 percent of the total population have completed their vaccine series.
Arkansas has seen an average of 300 cases per day, an increase from 200 the last month, and health officials say the Delta variant is to blame.
Currently, 56 percent of all cases in the state that undergo genetic sequencing are linked to Delta.
Health experts say low vaccination rates will help the Indian 'Delta' variant spread, which currently makes up 20% of American cases, up from 9.9% two weeks ago
Former FDA commissioner Dr Scott Gottlieb said on Sunday (pictured) he expects outbreaks of the Indian 'Delta' variant to rise in areas with low vaccination rates
'That tells us that the variant is spreading widely and that it's spreading quickly,' Dr Jennifer Dillaha, the Director of Epidemiology for the Arkansas Department of Health told Action News 5.
'My concern is that if people are not immune to it, then this variant will find them and infect them and cause illness.'
Governor Asa Hutchinson of Arkansas said hospitalizations are up 30 percent and encouraged residents to get vaccinated.
'The Delta variant is a great concern to us. We see that impacting our increasing cases and hospitalizations,' Hutchinson told Face the Nation.
'We've got to make sure we do everything we can to get the word out, which we have. We have used incentives that have not been very successful. We've obviously done marketing for our vaccines. We are educating, doing everything we can.'
In Mississippi, health officials said there a growing number of cases linked to the Delta variant.
According to WAPT, state epidemiologist Dr Paul Byers said there have been at least 60 cases associated with the variant since the fist infection was identified a few weeks ago.
The state is currently averaging 132 COVID-19 infections per day, an 18 percent increase from 111 from earlier this month.
However, less than 30 percent of the population is fully vaccinated.
'The vaccine is still effective against it, but remember that a vaccine is not 100 percent,' Byers said.
'And when you have an individual in congregate settings in very close contact and put in a place with highly infectious variants, there is a possibility of transmission.'
About 59% of the Los Angeles population is fully vaccinated, but the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health recommended that residents in the county be vaccinated against the variants
Meanwhile, in Los Angeles, 59 of the population is fully vaccinated.
But the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health recommended that residents in the county, the most densely populated in the U.S., start donning masks again to protect against the variant - even as they admitted that fully vaccinated people are at little risk.
'While COVID-19 vaccine provides very effective protection preventing hospitalizations and deaths against the delta variant, the strain is proving to be more transmissible and is expected to become more prevalent,' said Public Health director Barbara Ferrer.
'Mask wearing remains an effective tool for reducing transmission, especially indoors where the virus may be easily spread through inhalation of aerosols emitted by an infected person.'
In LA county, there have been more than a million cases of Covid-19 and 24,480 deaths, while the Delta variant accounts for 5.7 percent of new cases in California.
As of mid June, there were 64 cases of the Delta variant identified in LA County, according to the Los Angeles Department of Public Health.
Additionally, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio vowed that New York City will not go into another lockdown despite the spread of the highly transmissible Delta variant, citing high vaccination rates in the city.
'We are watching the Delta variant very carefully in this city...We have a lot of information, and we're obviously watching it around the world but the difference here is a very high level of vaccination,' he said during a press conference on Tuesdy, noting that more than half of residents are fully vaccinated.
'The bottom line is right now we're winning the race against the Delta variant, but we've gotta keep winning,' he said.
The decision on whether or not the city goes back into lockdown, however, rests with Gov Andrew Cuomo, and not the mayor, who is reaching the end of his second and final term.
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