CHICAGO, July 21 -- The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) announced Tuesday that the Delta variant of the coronavirus accounts for 83 percent of new cases, up significantly from two weeks ago as deaths spike.
As of July 3, the variant, considered more easily transmissible and virulent than the original coronavirus, accounted for 50 percent of new cases.
"This is a dramatic increase," said CDC head Rochelle Walensky in an update to Congress. "In some parts of the country, the percentage is even higher, particularly in areas of low vaccination rates."
Walensky said the average daily death count has climbed to about 239 per day, an increase of nearly 48 percent from the previous week.
"Each death is tragic, and even more ...