Colorado Counties With Highest Number Of Delta Variant Cases

Colorado public health officials continue to investigate the spread of the delta variant, which was first detected in India in December 2020. Cases of the variant in our state have grown rapidly, according to public health data.

More than 1,400 cases of the variant have been reported in 41 Colorado counties.

Early studies show the delta variant is more infectious and causes more severe disease — it has around double the hospitalization rate of the alpha variant, Colorado public health officials said.

The coronavirus vaccine is effective against the delta variant, particularly two weeks after both doses are received, Colorado public health officials said.

The delta variant has hit Mesa County the hardest — more than 575 cases have been reported in the county, the data shows.

Delta variant cases reported in each county:

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• Mesa: 576
• El Paso: 297
• Moffat: 86
• Garfield: 85
• Arapahoe: 40
• Jefferson: 36
• Douglas: 30
• Adams: 29
• Boulder: 24
• Denver: 23
• Larimer: 22
• Pueblo: 22
• Weld: 20
• Conejos: 18
• Fremont: 14
• Montrose: 14
• Delta: 12
• Rio Blanco: 12
• Gunnison: 9
• Archuleta: 7
• La Plata: 6
• Routt: 5
• Las Animas: 4
• Saguache: 4
• San Miguel: 4
• Teller: 4
• Eagle: 3
• Montezuma: 3
• Pitkin: 2
• Summit: 2
• Alamosa: 1
• Bent: 1
• Broomfield: 1
• Custer: 1
• Elbert: 1
• Gilpin: 1
• Grand: 1
• Logan: 1
• Otero: 1
• Sedgwick: 1
• Washington: 1

“Delta will certainly accelerate the pandemic” around the world, F. Perry Wilson, a Yale Medicine epidemiologist, said in a statement.

The delta variant, which was first seen in India and was first detected in the United States in March, spreads 50 percent faster than the alpha variant that originated in Great Britain, which itself spreads 50 percent faster than the original coronavirus strain, according to Yale Medicine.

Dr. Rachel Herlihy, state epidemiologist with the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, and Gov. Jared Polis held a roundtable with local officials in Grand Junction in late June to discuss the spread of the Delta variant. State public health officials and a CDC team traveled to Mesa County to investigate the spread and offer technical support.