Delta variant of Covid one of the most infectious of all respiratory diseases, CDC director says

US has recorded close to 600,000 Covid-19 cases over the last four weeks

People walk through Times Square on 22 July 2021, as the Delta Covid surge is renewing calls for mask mandates in New York (AFP via Getty Images)

The Delta variant of Covid-19 is one of the most infectious of all respiratory diseases, the director of the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said on Thursday.

“The delta variant is more aggressive and much more transmissible than previously circulating strains. It is one of the most infectious respiratory viruses we know of, and that I have seen in my 20-year career,” CDC Director Dr Rochelle Walensky said.

Dr Walensky told reporters that “this virus has no incentive to let up, and it remains in search of the next vulnerable person to infect,” reported NBC News.

“We are at yet another pivotal moment in this pandemic, with cases rising again and some hospitals reaching their capacity in some areas, we need to come together as one nation,” she said.

The CDC, however, hasn’t changed its guidance that vaccinated people do not need to wear masks.

Dr William Schaffner, a professor of infectious diseases in the health policy department at the Vanderbilt University School of Medicine in Nashville, said this delta (strain) at the moment is honing in on largely unvaccinated persons.

Delta variant has become the most dominant variant across the US and is accounting for over 80 percent of sequenced cases. The US has also witnessed a surge in the Covid-19 cases with close to 600,000 cases over the last four weeks.

Till 15 July, over 341.7 million doses of Covid-19 have been administered but scepticism against vaccines led to a slowdown. According to reports, over 95 per cent of people admitted to the hospital in the US with symptoms of Covid-19 are unvaccinated.

The scepticism, however, may soon change due to rising Covid-19 cases.

Jeff Zients, who is head of president Joe Biden’s Covid-19 team, on Thursday told media that several states with the highest proportions of new infections have seen residents get vaccinated at higher rates than the nation as a whole.

The officials cited Arkansas, Florida, Louisiana, Missouri and Nevada as examples.

Additional reporting by agencies