Washoe County confirms 1st COVID-19 death from Delta variant

RENO, Nev. (AP) — Northern Nevada’s Washoe County has confirmed its first death related to the COVID-19 Delta variant, which was the most common variant among samples collected at the state public health lab last month and is accounting for one in four new cases reported nationally, the health district said Thursday.

“The Delta variant has become the most common COVID-19 variant in Washoe County over the last two weeks and is extremely contagious,” Washoe County Health District Officer Kevin Dick said.

The woman in her 40s who died from the Delta variant first identified in India had been hospitalized in the Reno-Sparks area, had no underlying conditions and had not received the COVID-19 vaccination, the county health district said Thursday.

It’s the first blamed on the variant among 685 COVID-19 overall deaths reported in the county since March 2020, the district said.

Washoe County reported 34 additional cases of the Delta variant, for a total of 51. Nevada’s first case of the variant was confirmed in the county on June 15.

Most of the cases involved people who had not been vaccinated. Nine were fully vaccinated. None of the fully vaccinated who contracted the variant has been hospitalized, the district said.

Scott Sonner, The Associated Press

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