BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KERO) — Public Health has confirmed the second case of the Delta variant in Kern County.
The delta variant has emerged as the dominant strain of the novel coronavirus in the United States, according to updated data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
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Kern COVID-19 tracker: 235,765 total cases, 2,107 deaths
The CDC’s “variant proportions” website shows the delta variant, otherwise known as B.1.617.2, accounted for an estimated 51.7% of all COVID-19 infections in the U.S. as of July 3.
The delta variant also accounts for more than 50% of infections in five of the 10 regions that the Department of Health a Human Services divides the U.S. into, according to the CDC.
Infectious disease experts, like Dr. Anthony Fauci, have warned for weeks that the delta variant is highly contagious and it threatens the nation’s recovery from the pandemic.