Illinois Reports Gamma Variant Cases Surging, Six Times More Common Than Delta Variant In State

Gamma variant cases of COVID-19 account for six times more cases in Illinois than Delta variant ones.

As of Monday, the Illinois Department of Public Health has found 10,592 variant cases, twice as many compared to May.

Of more than 10,000 variant cases, the Gamma variant alone represents 2,600 of the entire variant cases, compared to only 403 Delta variant cases.

“I’m a little concerned about what the future could hold,” Dr. Allison Arwady of the Chicago Department of Public Health, said.

Most of the media coverage has been focused on the delta variants recently.

“The Delta variant that we are hearing so much about doesn’t seem to be making, as of yet, as much inroads into Chicago as we would’ve otherwise expected,” Stefan Green of the Rush University Medical Center told the CBS Chicago. “I don’t have a definitive answer of why Delta hasn’t expanded more rapidly in Cook County.”

Around 50 percent of the population in Illinois has been fully vaccinated for COVID-19.

On Tuesday, CDC Director Rochelle Walensky said that Delta variant cases of COVID-19 currently make up 83 percent of the entire COVID-19 cases in this country.

Article by Dongyoon Shin