The rolling average of new daily COVID cases in the U.S. has crept back up over 100,000 for the first time since February as the country faces the impact of the Delta variant. The aggressive mutation, first identified in India, has managed to almost entirely outcompete the others when it comes to transmissibility and hospitalizations, with medical staff in southern states warning of a shortage of hospital beds.
There are also growing concerns about the possibility of other variants spreading out of control in the U.S. including Lambda mutation, which early data suggests slightly weakens the positive effects of COVID vaccines. Many states are seeing worse situations now than in August 2020, including in Florida, where hospital admissions spiked 13 percent last month and local officials are warning of serious critical staff shortages in the coming weeks.
Meanwhile, a race between the variant and the vaccine continues. Dr. Anthony Fauci hopes the Food and Drugs Administration will give the full OK for all current COVID vaccines currently being distributed across the U.S. on an emergency license.
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Delta is wreaking havoc – but what do we know about the threat from Lambda?
The variant, first documented in Peru last year, was flagged as a “variant of interest” by the World Health Organization on June 14 and is now spreading amongst Americans, with 1,300 confirmed cases so far.
While much remains to be known about the variant, experts fear its rapid spread could mean more severe illness, more hospitalizations and more resistance to vaccines than the original strain – and possibly even Delta.
Currently, the Delta variant accounts for more than 93 percent of circulating coronavirus cases in the country – but that could change.
READ MORE: The Lambda COVID Variant – What WHO, CDC Have Said
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