LOUISVILLE, Ky. — As the COVID 19’s Delta variant continues to uptick across Kentucky, health experts are now closely monitoring a new emerging variant.
What You Need To Know
- Doctors say Lambda variant has not yet been in Kentucky
- According to the WHO's website, the newest version of the virus has been reported in over 29 countries
- According to a spokesperson within Norton, COVID-19 patients admitted into the hospital has nearly tripled in the last 20 days
- Nearly 51% of Kentucky’s state population ages 12 and up are fully vaccinated
There’s the Delta, Alpha, Gamma – but now there’s yet another coronavirus variant.
This week, a Texas hospital system confirmed at least one person is being hospitalized after being infected with the Lambda variant.
Dr. Joseph Flynn, Chief Administrative Officer, Norton Medical Group told Spectrum News 1," this is just another notification that, 'Hey this is serious and we're seeing these mutations and they're not stopping.'"
He said Lambda continues to be dominant strain in Peru. According to the World Health Organization’s website, the newest version of the virus has been reported in over 29 countries.
"While I can’t specifically tell you what the course is going to be of Lambda, we know its' happened in South America specifically Peru, [and] that mortality is horrific," said Dr. Flynn.
Doctor Flynn said there is currently no data confirming cases of Lambda in Kentucky, but stresses it's only a matter of time, especially with vaccination rates lagging across the Bluegrass State.
"It's within reason to expect us to find it increasingly over time, but I’m guessing based on the preliminary data it's not going to be at that rate that we’ve seen with Delta," explained Dr. Flynn.
According to a spokesperson within Norton Health, COVID-19 patients admitted into the hospital has nearly tripled in the last 20 days.
Most of them have been unvaccinated and infected with the infectious delta variant of the disease.
"Although we’re seeing breakthrough infections with Delta, those people tend to be with mild symptoms, but make no mistake those who are unvaccinated are at profound risk," said Dr. Flynn.
The medical community said it's another reminder of the importance of getting everyone who’s eligible the vaccine, to help prevent the virus from mutating.
"If we don’t we're probably going to go backwards and think back to where we're six months ago. I don’t personally want to go back to those times. We can prevent that," Dr. Flynn said.
According to state data, at this time, nearly 51% of Kentucky’s state population ages 12 and up are fully vaccinated.