The highly contagious delta variant is causing a rapid surge in new COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations and deaths in Texas.
Jennifer Shuford, chief state epidemiologist at the Texas Department of State Health Services, said preliminary data show the delta variant currently makes up more than 75% of new COVID cases in the state.
鈥淲hat Texas is experiencing is similar to what鈥檚 happening across the United States,鈥� she said.
Much like other states where the delta variant is surging, there has been in uptick in severe illness due to COVID here.
Chris Van Deusen, a spokesman for the agency, said that compared to just last week, new COVID cases are up 92% in Texas, hospitalizations are up 49% and fatalities are 15% higher.
鈥淭hose are all going in the wrong direction,鈥� he said.
Shuford said COVID-19 has been rapidly spreading particularly among unvaccinated people. Because older populations have higher vaccination rates than younger people, she said the latter are seeing the highest spikes in infections right now.
鈥淲e do except that more of these cases are going to be seen in younger individuals just because they don鈥檛 have that protection from being fully vaccinated,鈥� Shuford said.
The good news, Van Deusen said, is that vaccinations have also started to pick up.
鈥淲e hit a low there after July 4 鈥� about 44,000 daily doses 鈥� and that has gone up pretty steadily since to more than 75,000 as of yesterday,鈥� he said.
State health officials are urging everyone who is eligible for the vaccine who hasn鈥檛 been vaccinated to get vaccinated as soon as possible.
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