GREEN BAY, Wis. (NBC 26) -- This week, the state added hundreds of new confirmed COVID cases.
"It is coming," Winnebago Co. Health Director Doug Gieryn said.
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Across the nation, a form of the coronavirus is creating concern.
"We will see it here in Wisconsin," Gieryn said. "It is more infectious. It does spread more rapidly."
The DHS has reported only 83 confirmed COVID Delta variant cases throughout the state. But the Northeast Region tops Wisconsin with nearly 28. And Gieryn says that might not tell the whole story.
"Unfortunately, only a small percentage of the positive tests are sequenced to determine whether they're a variant or not," he said. "And it takes weeks for that to happen, so it could already be here and we just don't even know it yet."
Gieryn says nearly half of the current COVID cases in the U.S. are the Delta variant.
"With the first version of coronavirus that we had, you were in a room and you would've infected 10 people," he said. "Now, you'd probably infect 25 or more."
Just over half of Wisconsin is fully vaccinated, a number that worries Gieryn.
"The likelihood that you would be hospitalized from the Delta variant is higher, or it appears to be higher, than the previous strains that we've seen in the past," Gieryn said.
But the Delta mutation is something local health officials planned for.
"This is expected to happen with time with any viral infection," Bellin Health Emergency Medicine Dr. Brad Burmeister said. "We expect that variants are gonna come about."
Today's #COVID19_WI update, and a reminder. Everyone age 12 and older is now eligible for the #COVID19 #vaccine. It is safe, effective, and available. Get information about how you can get vaccinated: https://t.co/s6NUa4xseI pic.twitter.com/aH0VsBz4gt
— WIDeptHealthServices (@DHSWI) July 8, 2021
Though it's not 100 percent effective, doctors say vaccination is the best way to prevent the troubling variant.
"It seems like we're talking vaccines, vaccines, vaccines," Burmeister said. "But that's really the truth of where we're at right now."
Experts say the Delta variant is more transmittable and can cause heightened symptoms. There are nearly 1,500 confirmed variant cases in Northeast Wisconsin.
For more information on where to find a vaccine or clinic location in Winnebago Co., visit the health department's website.
