Spread of Delta variant triggers surge

Daily US covid cases rise above 20,000 for three days in a row in a return to levels not seen since May, especially in low vax areas.

Case rates are rising most quickly in counties with low vaccination rates. Picture: AFP

Daily coronavirus cases in the US have risen above the 20,000 level for three days in a row in a return to levels not seen since May as the Delta variant spreads rapidly, especially in areas of low vaccination.

More than nine in ten recent Covid-19 cases have occurred in counties with vaccination rates lower than 40 per cent, according to Rochelle Walensky, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

America’s seven-day average of daily new cases is up by 47 per cent from two weeks ago and hospital cases have risen by 11 per cent.

Delta, first identified in India, has become the dominant variant in the US and Janet Yellen, the US Treasury secretary, warned yesterday (Sunday) that new variants were putting the global economic recovery at risk.

“We are very concerned about the Delta variant and other variants that could emerge and threaten recovery,” Yellen said after a meeting in Venice of the finance chiefs of the G20 nations. “We are a connected global economy. What happens in any part of the world affects all other countries.”

The CDC said last week that the Delta variant accounted for 51.7 per cent of new cases. Total new cases hit 20,094 on Wednesday, 27,237 on Thursday and 26,742 on Friday, the latest available figures. The last time numbers were above 20,000 was on May 28.

Thirty-three US states have seen an increase of at least 10 per cent in cases over the past fortnight, with numbers steady in 11 and down in six. Walensky said early data suggested that 99.5 per cent of recent Covid-19 deaths occurred in unvaccinated people. “Low vaccination rates in these counties coupled with high case rates and lax mitigation policies, that do not protect those who are unvaccinated, will certainly and sadly lead to more unnecessary suffering,” she said.

Executives from Pfizer were due to brief officials today (Monday), including Walensky and Anthony Fauci, President Biden’s chief Adviser on the virus, on the company’s booster dose for those who have already had two jabs.

The company claims to have data showing that immunity against the coronavirus declines in vaccinated people over time, particularly in the elderly, but the White House has yet to accept the need for boosters.

A survey yesterday (Sunday) showed that Americans are almost evenly divided over whether schools or private employers should require Covid-19 vaccinations as a condition of reopening.

Most Democrats support forcing employees and students to be vaccinated before they return to work or the classroom, according to the Politico-Harvard survey, and approve of government-issued certificates. Republicans generally oppose infringing individual choice.

The US military is reportedly considering mandatory vaccines but the government has so far avoided that. Fauci yesterday (Sunday) backed more local mandates for businesses and schools to require Covid-19 vaccinations.

“I have been of this opinion, and I remain of that opinion, that I do believe at the local level there should be more mandates,” he told CNN news. “There really should be. We’re talking about a life-and-death situation. We have lost 600,000 Americans already.”

The Times