HOLLAND, Michigan — The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services has identified the first case of the COVID-19 Delta variant in Ottawa County.
MDHHS says the person who contracted the variant is a vaccinated person in their 50s who had recently traveled. A close contact of the person, unvaccinated, is also believed to be a probable case of the variant.
Both have symptoms, but not severe. There is no evidence either one was hospitalized.
The CDC labels this variant as a "variant of concern," meaning it is highly contagious and could cause serious illness.
“This variant has caused a serious and deadly surge in India, where it was first identified,” said Marcia Mansaray, deputy health officer with Ottawa County Department of Public Health (OCDPH). “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.”
Mansaray said even though this is the first identified case of the Delta variant in Ottawa County, there is likely more. She said about 5% of the cases in Michigan are likely the variant, while the U.S. estimate is 20%. That is because the number of cases that are analyzed for variants is small.
Although the person who contracted the virus is vaccinated, OCDPH says the best way for people to protect themselves is to get vaccinated, and that the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines are still effective against the Delta variant. The department is recommending wearing a mask even if you are vaccinated to help protect against this variant.
“COVID-19 vaccines are the best protection we have against the virus and its variants,” said Toni Bulthuis, immunization supervisor with OCDPH. “We don’t know yet if children will be more impacted by the Delta variant. While no vaccine can be 100% effective all the time for everyone, the vaccines in the U.S. have consistently demonstrated high levels of protection against severe outcomes such as hospitalization and death.”
The OCDPH offers walk-in vaccination opportunities every Monday from 10 a.m. until 4 p.m. Other vaccination clinics in the West Michigan region can be found by clicking here.
Some good news, Mansaray said Ottawa County "is doing great right now," as far as COVID cases overall are concerned. She said the positivity rate is at about 2%, whereas 3% is concerned control over the spread. And yet, this variant throws in another variable.
"So yes, we're concerned, we're watching it very closely," said Mansaray. "We're monitoring those numbers very closely. We've watched this enough and done enough public health work to know that we're not going to minimize what this could do this. This could be serious. So we're asking people to evaluate their personal risk and their family risk."
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