NYC 'Carefully' Monitoring Delta COVID Variant's Rise, Mayor Says

NEW YORK CITY — The more infectious and more dangerous "Delta" coronavirus variant now accounts for about 23 percent of cases in New York City, health officials said.

Mayor Bill de Blasio on Monday said officials are monitoring the variant "very carefully" amid fears it could spark a resurgence of COVID-19 cases among unvaccinated people.

“The answer to the Delta variant is more and more and more vaccination,” he said.

Over the past four weeks, the Delta variant — B.1.617.2 — showed up in roughly 10 percent of cases tested for different coronavirus strains, city data shows.

The most recent data from June 12 showed 22 new Delta cases, or roughly 23 percent of variants found, although the numbers are still incomplete.

The number of Delta cases overall are still a fraction of total COVID-19 cases in the city. There have been 209 cases a day on average over the past month, according to city data.

But Jay Varma, the city's senior health adviser, emphasized the battle against the coronavirus isn't over. He said the best way to fight against the Delta variant is vaccination.

“Even though this strain of the virus appears to be both more infectious and more dangerous, it appears to also be very responsive to the vaccine,” he said.

Variants like the Delta strain could become more widespread as older ones disappear amid vaccinations, both Varma and health Commissioner Dave Chokshi said.

“Now may be the most dangerous time to remain unvaccinated because of the threat that this variant poses,” Chokshi said. “So, for my fellow New Yorkers who have been waiting to figure out whether or not to get vaccinated, if you’ve been on the fence my message is very simple: your wait is over and now is the best time to get vaccinated.”