The Delta variant of the coronavirus is leading a surge in Covid-19 cases in Washington, the health officials said late on Friday. The cases have been spreading like “wildfire” among adults as well as children, they added.
News agency Associated Press quoted the health officials as saying that the rapid acceleration in Covid-19 cases shows delta has the potential to unravel the state’s hard-fought progress towards recovery.
Even vaccination is not helping. “Vaccination progress is continuing, but not fast enough,” state Secretary of Health Umair A Shah said. “If you are unvaccinated and continue to have questions, we encourage you to speak to a trusted health care provider.”
Pend Oreille, Douglas, Lincoln, Pacific, Chelan and Island counties of the Washington state are the worst affected, recording more than 600 per cent rise in Covid-19 cases in past one month.
King County, Clallam, Stevens, Asotin, Whitman, Franklin, Spokane, Clark, Lewis and Pierce counties have also been ravaged by the virus.
Texas and Florida are also experiencing some of the worst Covid-19 outbreaks in the United States, accounting for 40 per cent of hospitalisations over the last week, according to the White House. There too, the Delta variant has been the dominant strain which has been wreaking havoc.
As you move South, healthcare workers in Georgia are also raising alarm with a surge in COvid-19 cases fuelled by the Delta variant.
“I can’t comprehend why – after fighting this war for 18 months, with people still dying and with critically ill patients filling our COVID units – we’re still having to work to convince people of the seriousness of what our tireless teams are dealing with every day,” Phoebe Putney Health System President and CEO Scott Steiner said in a statement on Friday.
Georgia’s case count continued to rise, with the seven-day rolling average climbing above 6,000 on Friday, the worst since February 1.
