OTTAWA COUNTY, MI -- A coronavirus variant causing concern for national health leaders has now been detected in an Ottawa County adult.
Ottawa County Department of Public Health leaders on Saturday, June 26 said they were notified Friday that the variant was found in a vaccinated adult in their 50s. The person had recently traveled in the United States.
It’s the first confirmed case of the delta variant in West Michigan, although it had been found in 32 Michigan people across eight counties as of June 22.
Related: How concerned should we be about the delta variant of the coronavirus?
A close contact of the Ottawa County person also has been identified as a coronavirus-positive case. That person also had recent travel and is presumed to have the delta variant.
Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation’s leading infectious disease expert, recently called the new delta variant of the coronavirus “the greatest threat in the U.S. to our attempt to eliminate COVID-19.”
The B.1.617.2 variant (delta variant) is considered highly transmissible and is believed to be responsible for about one in every five cases nationally. However, in Michigan, the latest strain only accounts for less than 1% of cases over the last four weeks.
“This variant has caused a serious and deadly surge in India, where it was first identified,” Marcia Mansaray, deputy health officer with Ottawa County Department of Public Health, said in a written setatement. “The SARS-CoV-2 virus behaves in unexpected ways so it is hard to predict what the impact of this variant will be here, but each opportunity for spread is another opportunity for the virus to mutate. We are still in a race between variants and vaccines. Unvaccinated people will be the most vulnerable.”
Health leaders urge anyone not yet vaccinated to do so.
Nationwide data shows the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines provide good protection against the variant, despite the strain being found in the the Ottawa County adult. Studies are being done on the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, but it too is expected to offer protection.
Ottawa County health leaders say even vaccinated people may want to consider wearing masks “out of an abundance of caution” because of the delta variant’s detection here.
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Coronavirus delta variant identified in West Michigan adult - MLive.com
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