Long & Short Of It

Delta Variant: The Truth

Just when you think the Covid-19 pandemic is old, stale news in America, up jumps the devil so to speak. National news, morning to evening, is pressing the fear-factor button on the Delta variant (Beta, Gamma, Kappa, etcetera also exist).

Whether it’s to push an agenda or ratings or both, it’s painfully obvious mainstream news isn’t broadcasting the entire Delta variant story. How transmissible and lethal is it relative to the original Alpha variant? Here’s the truth, and if you’re vaccinated these stats to follow could be inflated (ā€œcould beā€).

A study released mid-June from England looked at pandemic data from February 1 to June 14, 2021. This England study, I believe we may infer, would be a good barometer for the USA. The Delta variant does travel, although it’s way too early to declare it as more, less, or the same as the (original) Alpha in terms of being transmissible.

Delta, if you test positive for it, is only one-half as likely to land you in a hospital (overnight), < 1 percent of cases, and is one-tenth as likely to kill you, < 1/10 of a percent of cases, or one per thousand cases. Sometimes the truth hurts, but in this instance the truth helps. The Delta variant isn’t the devil being portrayed by the media, far from it.