Reports from around the country are showing a steady increase in new COVID-19 cases due to the delta variant, prompting one local hospital to reinstate masks.
Augusta University Health will reinstate masks effective 7:30 a.m. July 23, according to a news release issued July 22.
“We will reinstate the universal masking policy out of an abundance of caution,” the release read. “We are not limiting family presence or implementing any other COVID-19 restrictions at this time.
Masks are not required in private office settings or small meetings (of less than 10 persons) where all persons are vaccinated.”
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The delta variant has been rapidly on the rise.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Rochelle Walensky, testifying before the Senate Health Committee on July 20, said the delta variant is now responsible for 83% of all the sequenced COVID-19 cases in the United States. In areas with low vaccination rates, the percentage is even higher.
Just two weeks ago, the CDC estimated the delta variant was responsible for about 50% of new cases.
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Dr. Phillip Coule, vice president and chief medical officer of the Augusta University Health System, said delta is not yet the dominant strain locally, but it is on its way to becoming dominant.
“The biggest problem is in the unvaccinated, and those people are becoming quite ill. This is definitely a pandemic of the unvaccinated, and it’s affecting people who are younger,” he said. “It is a fairly dramatic increase, and we’re bracing for another wave of this, which I hate to say out loud, but it absolutely appears to be happening.”
Georgia reported 371 new cases on June 29. The numbers began climbing, and 1,440 new cases were reported on July 22. On July 19, Georgia spiked to 2,271 new cases in one 24-hour period.
The reports during that timeframe are similar in South Carolina.
On June 29, the Palmetto State reported just 55 new cases and a positivity rate of 1.7%. Numbers began climbing, and on July 22, new cases shot up 474 with a positivity rate of 10.8%. The positivity rate is the percentage of positive COVID-19 cases out of 8,365,533 tests administered.
During the weekly briefing by the Department of Health and Environmental Control, Dr. Brannon Traxler said, “We are going to see more and more sickness and more and more death. As we see these increasing numbers, I would like to see vaccination rates increasing even faster than what they are.”
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Traxler, the state’s public health director, speaks from experience. COVID-19 claimed the life of her grandmother in May 2020.
“Vaccines weren’t available when my (grandmother) died,” she said. “If they had been, I would have strongly encouraged her to get vaccinated against COVID-19 to stay healthy and here with us longer.”
Coule said some people were vaccine-hesitant. When the threat of the virus declined, they became vaccine-resistant.
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He said those are the people they most need to reach, to help them understand the delta variant increases their risk of illness, hospitalization and death.
“This is not a hoax. I hope everybody realizes that at this point. This disease is real and we have really good evidence about the safety of the vaccines,” he said. “We’ve got this great vaccine that will protect you, but if people don’t take it, what else are we supposed to do?”
Dana Lynn McIntyre is a Staff Reporter with The Augusta Press. You can reach her at dana@theaugustapress.com.
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