Houston hospital: Delta variant cases almost doubled

HOUSTON – The number of Delta variant cases of COVID-19 in Houston Methodist nearly doubled over the past week and is six times higher than in May, hospital officials said.

The most recent genome sequencing data up to the end of June shows that the Delta variant in their patients is now at 42%, down from 20% last week, hospital officials said.

EDITOR’S NOTE: The video above is from a July 2 report on how the sewage sample shows the Delta variant of COVID is spreading in Houston.

Hospital officials said the Delta variant has now overtaken the Alpha variant, which has been the dominant strain in Houston since March 2021, but currently accounts for 40% of new infections in their patients.

Houston Methodist has seen 139 Delta cases through June 28 and reports a 41% increase in the total number of cases over the past two weeks.

RELATED: The symptoms of the delta variant are different from the “classic” symptoms of COVID-19. Here’s what you need to know.

Currently, 127 COVID-positive patients are admitted as inpatients to their hospitals, up from 107 on Sunday and 86 last week.

The hospital’s team of infectious disease pathologists, which sequences the genome of every COVID-19 positive strain throughout the hospital system, calculated that the doubling time for the Delta variant was 7.5 days.

They said statistical models predict the Delta variant will peak at 92% of all new infections over the next two weeks.

Hospital officials said this pattern in Houston is similar to what was seen with the Alpha variant here and in the UK earlier this year, and more recently with the Delta variant in the UK.

RELATED: Delta coronavirus variant spreads throughout Houston, according to sewage sampling

They stressed the urgency of increasing vaccination rates to achieve collective immunity. They added that this is the only way to prevent these variants from spreading and to prevent new variants from forming.

Experts advise unvaccinated people to continue to mask themselves, socially distance themselves, avoid large crowds, maintain hand hygiene and other COVID-19 prevention measures to protect themselves and loved ones from Delta .

Research shows that vaccines work well against the Delta variant and almost all infected patients are unvaccinated hospital officials. While some new studies indicate that vaccines used in the United States have reduced effectiveness against Delta infection, they are still very effective in preventing serious illness and hospitalizations.

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