Mount Sinai prepares for the Delta variant

With Covid-19 cases back on the rise and new CDC guidance announced on July 27, local hospitals and health professionals are preparing for the Delta variant of the virus. Dr. Adhi Sharma, Chief Medical Officer at Mount Sinai South Nassau Hospital, discussed how people can protect themselves and their loved ones from the B.1.617.2 (Delta) variant.

Speaking to the Herald on July 30, Dr. Sharma said that Mount Sinai has seen an increase over the last week in their Covid patient census. Where the hospital saw one to two cases a day in June, they saw eight between July 29 and 30. Those new cases among patients have universally been seen in unvaccinated individuals.

“The challenge with Delta is that it is extremely transmissible,” Dr. Sharma said. “Even vaccinated individuals are getting Delta and we are seeing that in our staff.” Dr. Sharma said that most of the cases the hospital has seen has come from travel.

“We came out of the box, and we may have to go back in the box for a little bit,” Dr. Sharma said. “That’s going to be challenging and I think we are going to see a lot of Covid cases as a result of that.”

According to Dr. Sharma, the Delta variant has manifested itself in a slightly different symptom profile for milder cases, though the hospital is not seeing as many critically ill patients at the moment. “Hopefully that will continue to be the case, but this could just be the early part of the curve,” Dr. Sharma said. The CDC currently estimates that the Delta variant accounted for 82.2 percent of Covid cases from July 4 to July 17 nationally.

On July 27 the CDC updated its mask recommendations, advising that fully vaccinated people wear masks in public indoor settings in areas of substantial or high transmission, a classification that Nassau County currently falls into. According to the CDC Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR) published on July 27, Covid cases increased by approximately 300 percent nationally between July 19 and July 23. That increase was driven by the Delta variant.

“We are fortunate in Nassau that we have a very high vaccine acceptance rate,” Dr. Sharma said. “But despite that, we are seeing infection rates approaching three percent and that is problematic. We would not expect such high numbers with all of our vaccinated population.” Dr. Sharma said those numbers exemplify how potent the Delta variant is. The potency of the variant could be especially challenging during the fall and winter when outdoor activities will become more and more difficult.

“The only way that we can get this virus under control is through significant mass vaccination, around 90 percent, and having the virus stop spreading from person to person,” Dr. Sharma said. “Unfortunately, with the trajectory we are on right now Covid is going to be with us for quite some time.”