Texas Border Business
EDINBURG – The first case of the highly contagious Delta variant of COVID-19 in Hidalgo County has been confirmed on an unvaccinated resident by state health officials, Hidalgo County Judge Richard F. Cortez said Thursday morning.
“The Delta variant is now the most active, contagious and dangerous strain of COVID-19 and its presence in Hidalgo County, while expected at some point, is yet another warning that the dangers of COVID-19 are still real,” Cortez said.
The person who contracted this variant is a 33-year-old male from the mid-valley area of Hidalgo County. This person had not received any COVID-19 vaccine, but had traveled extensively both in-state and out of state.
The individual tested positive for COVID-19 after being hospitalized out of state. He returned home and traveled again to the North Texas area where he was hospitalized once again. It was there that state officials determined he had the Delta variant. The individual was never hospitalized in Hidalgo County.
Before Thursday, 23 people in Hidalgo County had been diagnosed with different variants of COVID-19:
· 16 people had been diagnosed with the British variant
· 6 people had been diagnosed with the Brazilian variant
· And 1 person had been diagnosed with the California variant
A variant is a virus that has undergone genetic changes. There are now 11 variants of the deadly COVID-19 virus, explained Eduardo Olivarez, chief administrative officer for the Hidalgo County Health and Human Services Department.
The Delta variant is believed to have originated in India. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said that evidence suggests the Delta variant is more transmissible than the other variants of the COVID-19 virus. The Delta variant has now been identified in as many as 60 countries, including the United States where the first case, an Oklahoma resident, was identified in April of 2021.
Initial evidence suggests this variant is particularly contagious in close quarters such as home. Early indications suggest that the three vaccines given emergency use authorization by the Food and Drug Administration are effective against this variant, but these vaccines are designed to lessen the effects of COVID-19, not prevent them.
“This is why it is so important for all of us to get vaccinated,” Cortez said. “We must continue to take this disease seriously.
