An outbreak of COVID-19 among vaccinated staff at a Las Vegas hospital has highlighted the risks posed by the Delta variant of SARS-CoV-2, as Nevada struggles with rising cases and stagnating vaccination rates.
Eleven workers at Sunrise Hospital and Medical Center, only one of whom was not vaccinated against COVID-19, tested positive after attending a party early last month, hospital officials said.
None of the workers infected were hospitalized, nor were there any fatalities.
“The [US] Centers for Disease Control has confirmed that 11 of our colleagues at Sunrise Hospital tested positive for the COVID-19 Delta variant,” Sunrise chief executive officer Todd Sklamberg said in a statement.
“All who tested positive are doing well and have returned to work,” Sklamberg said. “We want to acknowledge our colleagues recognized their own symptoms and chose to get tested. There were no exposures to our patients, as our staff complies with all PPE [personal protective equipment] guidelines, masking at all times and wearing face shields with all patient encounters.”
The outbreak, first reported by the Las Vegas Review-Journal, comes amid growing concern in the US about the Delta variant, which is now the dominant variant in the country.
As the Delta variant is highly transmissible, authorities have said that it is all the more important for unvaccinated people to get their shots, for personal immunity and to prevent spreading the virus to others.
The variant is being blamed for surges in southern Missouri and northern Arkansas, now the largest US outbreak of new COVID-19 cases.
Authorities have warned that it would only worsen if vaccination rates continue to languish in these areas, National Public Radio reported.
While there have been breakthrough cases, health officials have repeatedly said that vaccinations provide strong protection, including against the Delta variant.
COVID-19 vaccines — which data have repeatedly shown are safe and effective — reduce the severity of infections and prevent hospitalizations in the rare breakthrough cases, authorities say.
Nevada State Public Health Laboratory director Mark Pandori said that one factor in this breakthrough incident might be the Delta variant’s heightened ability to avert immunity.
“The viruses that are circulating in July aren’t the viruses that were circulating in February. These are the Olympians now,” Pandori told the Las Vegas Review-Journal. “The ones that are circulating now have a better ability to get around vaccination.”
On Tuesday, Nevada health officials reported 855 new cases, with the state’s two-week positivity rate hitting 10 percent — a surge from a low of 3.3 percent on June 9, the Las Vegas Review-Journal said.
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