Why The Delta Variant Is Hyper-Contagious: A New Study Sheds Light NPR - https://tinyurl.com/9p6psham The numerals in this illustration show the main mutation sites of the delta variant of the coronavirus, which is likely the most contagious version. Here, the virus's spike protein (red) binds to a receptor on a human cell (blue). After months of data collection, scientists agree: The delta variant is the most contagious version of the coronavirus worldwide. It spreads about two to three times faster than the original version of the virus, and it's currently dominating the outbreak in the United States, responsible for more than 80% of COVID cases. A new study, published online this month, sheds light on why. It finds that the variant grows more rapidly inside people's respiratory tracts and to much higher levels, researchers at the Guangdong Provincial Center for Disease Control and Prevention reported. On average, people infected with the delta variant had about 1,000 times more copies of the virus in their respiratory tracts than those infected with the original strain of the coronavirus, the study reported. In addition, after someone catches the delta variant, the person likely becomes infectious sooner. On average, it took about four days for the delta variant to reach detectable levels inside a person, compared with six days for the original coronavirus variant. n the study, scientists analyzed COVID-19 patients involved in the first outbreak of the delta variant in mainland China, which occurred between May 21 and June 18 in Guangzhou, the capital of Guangdong province. The researchers measured the levels of virus in 62 people involved in that outbreak and compared them with the levels in 63 patients infected in 2020 with an early version of the virus. Their findings suggest that people who have contracted the delta variant are likely spreading the virus earlier in the course of their infection. And the scientists underscore the importance of quarantining immediately for 14 days after coming into contact with someone diagnosed with COVID-19, as the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends. Or even better, getting fully vaccinated. Preliminary data shows that in some U.S. states, 99.5% of COVID-19 deaths in the past few months were among people who weren't vaccinated, said CDC director Dr. Rochelle Walensky at a White House press conference in early July. And 97% of those currently hospitalized with COVID-19 are unvaccinated, according to Walensky. "We know that the delta variant ... is currently surging in pockets of the country with low vaccination rates," Walensky said. "We also know that our authorized vaccines prevent severe disease, hospitalization and death from the delta variant." Even though the variant is more transmissible, initial hospital data shows that it doesn't increase the risk of hospitalization compared to other strains, says Dr. Monica Gandhi, who studies infectious diseases at the University of California San Francisco.
The Indian Wuhan-19 is much less lethal than the original Kung Flu. ---and the original was not that lethal statistically speaking.
Actually in-depth studies have shown clearly that the death rate and hospitalization rate for the vaccinated in unchanged between the Delta variant and original COIVD. Trying to claim the Delta variant is less lethal is pure fiction -- but that's what the anti-vaxxers do.
In almost all the states where Delta-variant covid is now starting to rage, governors and state legislatures have also recently severely limited the power of state and local government to issue emergency health orders to combat the virus' spread. Delta variant sweeps through states that dialed back health powers Even though Covid hospitalizations and deaths are surging in Texas, Gov. Greg Abbott just barred counties, cities and school districts from requiring masks. https://www.politico.com/news/2021/07/22/delta-variant-surge-covid-cases-500483 The Delta strain of the coronavirus is racing across the country, driving a surge of new cases and hospitalizations. But local and state officials this time have fewer options to slow the spread. In Texas, where Covid hospitalizations are up 30 percent and deaths up 10 percent over the past week, Gov. Greg Abbott recently barred counties, cities and school districts from requiring masks. Montana did the same for vaccine and mask mandates, while letting local officials overrule health department orders. And Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, whose state accounts for one in five of new U.S. infections, asserted power to nix local health orders if he concludes they infringe on individual rights. Many conservative lawmakers spent the first half of the year restricting public health powers such as mask requirements or indoor capacity limits— measures that blunted Covid’s impact when it emerged in the U.S. but quickly became the scorn of the right. Arkansas, Arizona, Idaho, Kansas, Missouri, South Carolina and Utah have in recent months also enacted new laws limiting local authority over the Covid response or any future health emergency. “I’d rather have a dangerous freedom than a comfortable safety,” said Arkansas state Sen. Trent Garner, who successfully pressed a ban on mask mandates and, like many like-minded officials, is adamant it stay in place. That’s left an increasingly fractured response, with some cities defying state bans and certain wary businesses stipulating that returning workers provide proof of vaccination. Meanwhile, the bans threaten longstanding public health practices that extend beyond the pandemic, from shutting down restaurants that have food borne illnesses to vaccinating children against diseases that took decades to bring under control. “We can do the surveillance but we can’t take any action, and small outbreaks could become much bigger problems. This is the bread and butter of our public health work and we’re in danger of losing it,” said Marcus Plescia, chief medical officer of Association of State and Territorial Health Officials. With infections expected to rise this fall as the weather and school reopenings push Americans indoors, officials in these states will have few options other than trying to cajole a resistant public into voluntary compliance. Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson is touring his state, pleading with residents to get vaccinated, and nearly every state is offering incentives and enticements to do so. Health departments in Kansas, Missouri and other hot spots that can’t require masks are recommending people wear them. Mississippi, where more than a dozen hospitals have run out of ICU beds, now advises unvaccinated people to avoid indoor gatherings. “The era of statewide mask mandates is over for the majority of the United States and certainly for us, but there are other common sense steps you can take,” said Mississippi state health officer Thomas Dobbs. Many Democratic-controlled states and cities have also been reluctant to reimpose mask mandates, even if they still have the power to do so. In Kentucky, Gov. Andy Beshear told reporters on Monday that there is no need to require face coverings now that people can choose to be vaccinated. But inducements to get shots have largely failed to boost uptake and toothless recommendations to wear masks and social distance are largely going ignored, leaving local health workers and elected officials scrambling as cases mount. Only a handful of places, such as Los Angeles County, have reimposed mask mandates as the more contagious Delta variant becomes dominant, and lawmakers from those areas argue such targeted actions are essential to combating the next phase of the pandemic. “Some local areas will get more cases, some will get less,” said Rep. Ted Lieu (D-Calif.). “Local communities should be able to decide the best way to protect their residents. It’s really dumb to say local communities can’t try to do more to protect residents from getting sick.” Even some Republican officials who believe mandates are ineffective and prompt backlash are torn over the question, and say local leaders, not state lawmakers, generally know what’s best for their residents. “I’d rather have local control than state mandates because what’s happening in Northwest Kansas is different than what’s happening in Johnson County [outside Kansas City],” said Kansas Republican Sen. Roger Marshall, whose state recently took away local departments’ ability to intervene in the crisis. Some local leaders insist they still have discretion to take action, despite what their governors have ordered. A spokesperson for Tucson Mayor Regina Romero said she would reimpose a mask mandate if infection levels are bad enough, despite Gov. Doug Ducey’s recent executive order that prohibits local jurisdictions from doing so. Ducey’s office did not respond to a request for comment. Other officials still hope states will walk back the bans should the pandemic’s toll reach new highs. “If things get really bad, if our hospitals start to fill up, and we have to once again set up tents with beds in them to treat people, I think you’re going to see a reconsideration,” predicted Rep. Al Green (D-Texas). Local officials in his hard-hit Houston-area district have battled for months with the state over what pandemic precautions can be enacted. A Missouri law that takes effect next month will limit local officials' ability to impose measures like mask requirements or limit capacity at places like Arrowhead Stadium, where more than 76,000 Kansas City Chiefs fans are expected to gather in the fall. Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas said he fears being hamstrung even as the health care system begins to buckle. But unless there is a surge in vaccinations, he isn’t sure there will be much he can do. “These policy approaches are not in the best interest of public health or in the best interests of the people of Kansas City,” he said. “There aren’t a lot of options left.”
Theres no data to show the virus itself is less deadly. What we do have are treatments that are authorized for emergency use that have shown to improve outcomes. Namely monoclonal antibodies- which is not without controversy itself because of embryonic stem cells used for development. I bet the anti vax right wingers don’t mind that little factoid as they are sucking wind in the ICU though. I think the best measure now that we have these safe effective treatments is hospitalizations. So while deaths may be going down we now have to deal overburdening our healthcare delivery system. Hospitals are not built in America to treat hundreds of Covid patients at a time. There’s a major trade off with outpatient services, surgeries, diagnostic procedures are still be done less than needed.
One has to define "more or less deadly" too in order to approach the discussion in an apples-to-apples way. A virus that is statistically less deadly to an individual, can also result in more deaths (to a city, for example) nevertheless because its higher infectiousness exposes more people even if it is to a less deadly (per person contracting) virus. My comment is not attached to anyone's position here on one side or the other. Just saying that discussions can go astray sometimes if there is not agreement in advance on the definitions of terms.
How about defining it as the percentages of unvaccinated cases dying within each age and gender cohort in a manner that CFR has traditionally been evaluated. You may have more cases within a unvaccinated population with delta because it is more infectious but the death rate of the overall cases should be evaluated.
The person making a point in a discussion can define how they are using it or they can witness the mix and match of points made based on their not defining it. It's up to them. I don't care. In regard to the scientific community, they should and would have a full set of metrics so that you can examine a development from many different angles depending on what they are trying to determine, so I cannot set one definition for them either.
Meh. When history looks back at this time it will be noted for being a point in which science was able to move quick enough to save millions of lives. All of this talk about case fatality rates, how deadly, etc is important but all of which has been blunted because we are in a real era of scientific and medical breakthroughs and effective application. The historical importance of these treatments and vaccines is huge. From embryonic stem cells to mRNA research that has been going on for decades - and mind you all now not without hostility against it - the pay off is immense when you look at the lives saved and the economic losses mitigated.
Well. That is the white privileged, colonial legacy science view of what matters and does not matter. Otherwise, the whole continent of Africa should focus on the impact of various variants because they most likely will experience the virus before experiencing a vaccine. Got it though. The white boy in new jersey is all set.