An internal presentation from the CDC dated Thursday reveals new details about how dangerous the delta variant is.
The document shows the variant acts like almost like a different novel virus, as contagious as chicken pox, one of the most contagious viruses out there. It spreads easier than the common cold, Ebola, the 1918 flu, and small pox.
It also shows that the delta variant likely increases the risk of severe disease and hospitalization compared to the original virus.
The data in the document played a key role in the CDC’s decision to recommend masking in certain settings for both the unvaccinated and the vaccinated.
Data from a July 4 outbreak on Cape Cod, in Massachusetts, appears to have led CDC Director Rochelle Walensky earlier this week to recommend fully vaccinated people wear a mask indoors in public spaces if they live in areas where the spread of the virus is currently “substantial” or “high.”
NPR
In the Massachusetts outbreak, vaccinated and unvaccinated people exhibited nearly the same amount of virus recovered from test samples.
A federal official stated that the data is expected to be released sometime Friday.
The Washington Post obtained a copy of the document, and is providing free access to their report.
You can read all of it here.
Meanwhile, the other non-scientific war against the virus rages on.