Delta became the dominant coronavirus strain in other countries first. What we can learn from their data
Most coronavirus cases in North Carolina now are the Delta variant of the virus, and the majority of those getting infected are unvaccinated, according to the state Department of Health and Human Services.
Ninety-four percent of new cases are among those who haven't received any of the available vaccines, DHHS officials said Friday. And the Delta variant is producing a surge of cases. More than 9,000 infections were reported over the last week, a 66 percent jump from the previous seven-day period.
The state reported Wednesday that four out of every five of the new cases contains the DNA sequencing of the highly transmissible Delta variant.
"It's much more contagious now than it was early in the pandemic," said Dr. David Montefiori, of the Duke Human Vaccine Institute.
The Delta mutation was first identified in India in December, Yale Medicine researchers explain.
"The strain spread rapidly, soon becoming the dominant strain of the virus in both India and then Great Britain," researchers wrote.
Current information from Our World in Data shows that 99 percent of all COVID-19 cases in the United Kingdom are from this variant.
Using that site, WRAL Data Trackers analyzed cases, deaths and Delta variant shares for several countries, including the U.K., France and Germany, and compared them to the U.S.
On May 3, the U.K. began seeing an increase in the share of cases containing the Delta variant. At that time, about 9 percent of all cases there were Delta, while in the other three countries, it was around 1 percent or less.
As Delta spread around the U.K., cases there skyrocketed. Looking at cases per capita, the U.K.'s seven-day, rolling average is hovering around 700 daily cases per every million residents. That's close to the January peak of 881 a day. The country currently has a higher vaccination rate than the U.S., with just shy of 70 percent of all adults fully vaccinated.
Meanwhile, the U.S. vaccination rate is lagging behind that, at about 60 percent of adults fully protected. The nation is averaging 112 cases per million, and the share of cases made up of the Delta variant remain lower, too.
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Montefiori said there are several takeaways from watching what is happening in other countries, like the U.K. For starters, while the number of new cases is increasing, the number of deaths is not.
"Even though, in the U.K., there is an increase in the daily infection cases, mostly in non-vaccinated people or people who only received one vaccination, and there are people who have been vaccinated and are getting Delta in the U.K., those people are not experiencing severe symptoms," said Montefiori.
The doctor said that speaks to how well the vaccines work, and he is urging those who have not yet received a vaccine to get one or to be prepared to catch the virus.
"For those who are unvaccinated, you are more likely to contract this virus than you ever were before," he said. "That's something to think about."
