Stress and Strain in the U.S. Medical System With the Delta Variant of COVID-19

The Delta variant causes more infections and spreads faster than early forms of SARS-CoV-2

• The Delta variant is more contagious: The Delta variant is highly contagious, nearly twice as contagious as previous variants.
• Some data suggest the Delta variant might cause more severe illness than previous strains in unvaccinated persons. In two different studies from Canada and Scotland, patients infected with the Delta variant were more likely to be hospitalized than patients infected with Alpha or the original virus strains.
• Unvaccinated people remain the greatest concern: Although breakthrough infections happen much less often than infections in unvaccinated people, individuals infected with the Delta variant, including fully vaccinated people with symptomatic breakthrough infections, can transmit it to others. CDC is continuing to assess data on whether fully vaccinated people with asymptomatic breakthrough infections can transmit. However, the greatest risk of transmission is among unvaccinated people who are much more likely to contract, and therefore transmit the virus.
• Fully vaccinated people with Delta variant breakthrough infections can spread the virus to others. However, vaccinated people appear to be infectious for a shorter period: Previous variants typically produced less virus in the body of infected fully vaccinated people (breakthrough infections) than in unvaccinated people. In contrast, the Delta variant seems to produce the same high amount of virus in both unvaccinated and fully vaccinated people. However, like other variants, the amount of virus produced by Delta breakthrough infections in fully vaccinated people also goes down faster than infections in unvaccinated people. This means fully vaccinated people are likely infectious for less time than unvaccinated people.          Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
  

"We saw the largest single-day increase in hospitalizations and have eclipsed our previous high of COVID hospitalizations,"

"There are currently only eight ICU beds available in the state."

Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson

An intubated patient inside a negative pressure room in the Covid-19 ICU at a hospital in Joplin, Missouri, on Aug. 3. Photographer: Angus Mordant/Bloomberg

The United States, which suffered the worst case load, hospitalization and death rates of any country, undertook a massive vaccination campaign to reduce the malignity of the SARS-CoV-2 virus and the first wave abated to the point where a sigh of collective relief relaxed the overall vigilance against the infectious and sometimes-deadly virus causing COVID-19. The horizon looked brighter everywhere until the virus began producing variants of the original strain that promised to be more infectious, slightly resistant to vaccines and producing more serious outcomes. 

One of those variants is the Delta strain which certainly turned out to be more communicable in a population and this is the strain that has been wreaking havoc in a return wave of COVID all over the world. In the U.S., a six-month high of new cases is being realized, thanks to the rapid spread of the variant, all the more in those areas of the country where low vaccination uptake has taken place. COVID cases now average 100,000 nationwide three days following each other, an increase of 35 percent over the week before. 

A nurse prepares to enter a room to treat a patient in the Covid-19 ICU ward at a hospital in Jonesboro, Arkansas, on Aug. 4.    Photographer: Houston Cofield/Bloomberg

The state of Arkansas has the misfortune of representing the greatest number of fatalities by population in a nation where a rise of 40 percent has been seen in hospitalizations -- and deaths registering an increase of 18 percent. Records for hospitalization were set in Florida over an eight-day period. The second-largest teaching union in the country announced it is backing mandated vaccinations for American teachers with a view to protecting students too young for inoculation.

The reason for that precaution is obvious enough, seeing that the number of children with COVID-19 being hospitalized is rising country-wide, representing a trend which, according to health experts recognizes the Delta variant as more likely to infect children, as opposed to the original Alpha strain of the virus. The reduction in cases overall in the country in late spring into summer led to pressure to ensure that parts of the population remaining uncertain or uneasy or reluctant to be vaccinated, is gaining momentum.

California, New York and Virginia have mandated vaccinations for their populations; failing that, that weekly testing be undertaken for state employees. Several cities have stood out for their firm position requiring municipal employees to be vaccinated for the public good. New rules were set out last month by the Biden administration that federal workers must provide proof of having been vaccinated, or alternately undertake regular testing, while a mask mandate has been reimposed, along with travel restrictions.

A critical care respiratory therapist works with a coronavirus disease (COVID-19) positive patient in the intensive care unit   Reuters

Private enterprise is also choosing to become involved, mandating COVID-19 vaccinations for their employees. Large national employers like United Airlines, Tyson Foods Inc. and Microsoft are among those corporations mandating vaccination for their employees. Large-scale events have been cancelled, although some events plan to carry on -- like the small town in South Dakota, where the annual Sturgis Motorcycle Rally is set to carry on as usual, preparing to welcome hundreds of thousands of motorcycle enthusiasts. 

Certain to become a super-spreader event.