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Deadly Delta COVID-19 variant spreading fast in US

Hospitalizations are up 225% since early June in Springfield, Missouri. (CNN photo)

The deadly Delta COVID-19 variant is spreading fast in the United States as a number of states report a renewed surge in fresh infections due to the more contagious strain of the coronavirus. 

Data showed an increase in the prevalence of the delta variant among genomes sampled in Missouri, one of the states which have seen a surge in new cases over the past two weeks, US media reported on Friday. 

“There’s no doubt the virus is increasing in Missouri,” said George Turabelidze, an epidemiologist at the state Department of Health and Senior Services. “The delta variant is especially concerning. Compared to other viruses that have emerged before, it seems to be more transmissible.”

About 1,383 new cases were reported as of July 1 in Missouri, with a weekly average of 926 positive cases. The state also has some 945 hospitalized COVID-19 patients, with one of the highest hospitalization rates in the US. 

Missouri is leading the US in Delta variant infection, with the strain composing 29.9 percent of current COVID-19 infections, according to Data from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). 

 But other US states are also having the increasing number of the delta variant cases, which shows signs of becoming a dominant variant countrywide.

Other Midwestern states, as well as states further on the West Coast, including California, are trailing Missouri.  Nationally, the delta variant composes an estimated 10 percent of all infections which is up from 2.9 percent from data from the end of May.

Public health experts have expressed concern over the fast spread of the delta variant. 

"I'm concerned about the delta variant," US Surgeon General Vivek Murthy told CNN on Wednesday. "And I am worried that what we are seeing in terms of a plateauing of cases nationally but also an increase in cases in many small sections of the United States, that that is, in fact, being driven by the delta variant."
 


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