Delta Variant In the USVI, Confirmed By Department Of Health

U.S. VIRGIN ISLANDS - The V.I. Department of Health confirmed on Thursday that the Delta variant of COVID-19 is present in the territory. The D.O.H. announced the presence of the Delta variant in a post published on its Facebook page.

The Department of Health's Division of Epidemiology has been working with Yale University to test positive COVID-19 cases to determine if any new cases are caused by variants of the virus. Two of the samples are confirmed to be the Delta variant.

Other variants have also been identified, including 65 cases of Alpha variant which is also known as "the UK Variant." However, the Delta variant is considered highly contagious. It is currently the dominant strain in the United States.

According to a statement released by the D.O.H, "new cases continue to rise amongst unvaccinated individuals. As of July 20th, there are 165 cases in the territory and the positivity rate is 4.13%. With this surge in positive cases there is a greater chance for the virus to mutate. Identifying this variant in one district only indicates to us that it has already covered the whole territory as inter-island travel heightens the spread."

In light of the confirmation, D.O.H. officials also urged residents to get vaccinated. "Mutations can make the virus more virulent and could potentially cause it to be resistant to the vaccine in the future," said officials in the statement. They added, "The sooner more residents get vaccinated, the risk of the virus mutating will decrease."

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