1Life Healthcare : What To Know About The COVID-19 Delta Variant

Known as B.1.617.2, the Delta variant was first identified in December of 2020 in India, where it was associated with an upswing in COVID-19 cases and contributed to an overwhelming burden on the country's healthcare system. Since then the variant has been detected in over 110 countries and has become the most dominant strain in the U.S. It now accounts for over 58% of all U.S. infections across all 50 states.

Both the CDC and WHO have classified the Delta variant as a 'variant of concern ', meaning that it's more transmissible and may cause more severe illness, though more research is needed. The Delta variant is thought to be the most contagious variant yet, having quickly become the dominant strain in the U.S. after first being identified in the country in March 2021. In fact, early research suggests it to be about 40 to 60% more contagious than the alpha variant, the previously dominant strain in the U.K. and the U.S, which was already 50% more transmissible than the original coronavirus strain first reported in Wuhan, China in 2019. According to Yale Medicine, public health experts estimate that the average person infected with the Delta variant spreads it to 3 or four people, compared to 2 people with the original strain.

While there is not enough evidence yet to confirm that the strain causes more severe disease or is deadlier than other strains, some research has linked the Delta variant to increased risk of hospitalization. A study by Public Health England (PHE), for instance, found that those with the Delta variant were twice as likely to be hospitalized than those infected with the alpha variant. Meanwhile, a study in Scotland showed the rate of hospitalization for people with the Delta variant to be about 85% higher than that of patients with the Alpha variant.