Delta variant now dominant strain globally as US deaths surge

WASHINGTON • The Delta variant of Covid-19 is now the dominant strain worldwide, accompanied by a surge of deaths around the United States almost entirely among unvaccinated people, US officials said on Friday.

US cases of Covid-19 are up 70 per cent over the previous week and deaths are up 26 per cent, with outbreaks occurring in parts of the country with low vaccination rates, US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) director Rochelle Walensky said during a press briefing.

The seven-day average number of daily cases is now over 26,000, more than twice its June low of around 11,000 cases, according to CDC data.

The starkest uptick in cases has occurred in Arkansas, Florida, Louisiana, Missouri and Nevada, said White House Covid-19 response coordinator Jeff Zients. All those states have below-average vaccination rates.

According to US health officials, a current spike in Covid-19 deaths and illnesses around the country is almost exclusively hitting people who remain unvaccinated.

President Joe Biden said on Friday that social media misinformation about Covid-19 and vaccinations is "killing people".

"The only pandemic we have is among the unvaccinated. And they're killing people," Mr Biden told reporters at the White House, as he left for a weekend at the presidential retreat in Camp David.

"This is becoming a pandemic of the unvaccinated," Dr Walensky said, adding that 97 per cent of people entering hospitals in the US with Covid-19 are unvaccinated.

She said an increasing number of counties around the US now exhibit a high risk of Covid-19 transmission, reversing significant declines in transmission risk in recent months.

White House press secretary Jen Psaki said Facebook and other platforms are not doing enough to push back. "Everybody has a role to play in making sure there's accurate information," she said.

Many of those refusing vaccinations, despite the ease of availability throughout the US, have said they do not trust the shots. Scepticism is being fuelled by false posts claiming the jabs are part of attempts at government control.

But now, Delta outbreaks may be boosting demand for vaccinations in harder-hit states, Mr Michael Newshel, a healthcare analyst at Evercore ISI, said in a note to clients.

Around five million people have been vaccinated in the past 10 days, Mr Zients said, including many in states that have had lower vaccination rates.

The Delta variant, which is significantly more contagious, is now the dominant variant worldwide, top US infectious disease expert Anthony Fauci said. "We are dealing with a formidable variant" of Covid-19, he said during the call.

REUTERS, AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE