{"id":45344,"date":"2021-08-07T11:00:00","date_gmt":"2021-08-07T17:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/delta-variant-rises-to-dominance-in-la-plata-archuleta-counties\/"},"modified":"2026-03-31T03:24:46","modified_gmt":"2026-03-31T09:24:46","slug":"delta-variant-rises-to-dominance-in-la-plata-archuleta-counties","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/delta-variant-rises-to-dominance-in-la-plata-archuleta-counties\/","title":{"rendered":"Delta variant rises to dominance in La Plata, Archuleta counties"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\"Vanessa
Vanessa Taylor and her daughter Rhyse, 9, work on a puzzle on Wednesday at their Durango home. Rhyse Taylor tested positive for the delta variant of the coronavirus and infected her mom who was fully vaccinated. (Jerry McBride\/Durango Herald)<\/span>cca<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

The headaches, coughing and body aches started in late June for Durango resident Vanessa Taylor. When she went to the doctor, she was shocked to learn she had COVID-19, considering she had been fully vaccinated by the end of March.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy symptoms were pretty overwhelming for the first 11 days,\u201d Taylor said. \u201cI referred to it as \u2018horizontal misery.\u2019 I didn\u2019t leave my bed.\u201d<\/p>\n

Taylor was infected with the delta variant of the novel coronavirus \u2013 the fast-spreading variant prompting communities nationwide to, once again, evaluate how to fight the virus in daily life.<\/p>\n

Delta has quickly become the dominant coronavirus variant in the United States. Reports of outbreaks have been cropping up. Masking recommendations are on the rise, adding fuel to the ongoing mask debate. The COVID-19 vaccines are the strongest tools available to control the virus, health professionals say, but many Americans remain hesitant or unwilling to get a dose.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople need to realize we\u2019re not out of the woods yet, and things can get worse again before they get better,\u201d said Christopher Hudson, a doctor and chief medical officer at Mercy Regional Medical Center. \u201cWe just really need people to wear their masks, follow those (public health) guidelines and get vaccinated.\u201d<\/p>\n

La Plata County reported 4,372 cases as of Friday, according to San Juan Basin Public Health. Archuleta County reported 1,162 cases as of Friday. Both showed a slight increase in case numbers compared with a lull in late spring.<\/p>\n

Delta has been linked to an outbreak at the Pagosa Springs Walmart, in which 16 people got COVID-19, and at Nissan of Durango, which led to 10 cases and two deaths. The Office of Emergency Management posted a warning about an outbreak in San Juan County, Colorado, on Thursday.<\/p>\n

In response to its rise, SJBPH and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention again recommended masks, regardless of vaccination status, in indoor public areas. The 6th Judicial District, based in Durango, just announced its own mask requirements for staff members and visitors in courthouses.<\/p>\n

CDPHE was still evaluating its recommendation for vaccinated people this week, said Rachel Herlihy, a doctor and state epidemiologist with the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment.<\/p>\n

SJBPH also announced this week it received nearly $1 million in grant money to increase vaccine access and education.<\/p>\n

\"Vanessa
Vanessa Taylor, 47, said she is still monitoring her recovery from COVID-19 six weeks after her original diagnosis. She caught the virus from her daughter, Rhyse, 9. (Jerry McBride\/Durango Herald)<\/span>cca<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

For some community members, the rise of delta means the end of the sense of normalcy that came with COVID-19 vaccines and early summer months. Some were never able to relax because of chronic health conditions, while others continued to question the necessity of public health restrictions.<\/p>\n

Several La Plata County residents, who shared their experiences of the pandemic, came to the same conclusion: Vaccines are the best weapon against the pandemic and the best opportunity to return to a sense of \u201cnormal.\u201d<\/p>\n

Taylor caught the coronavirus from her 9-year-old daughter, Rhyse, who is too young to be vaccinated. At 47, her fight with delta felt like pneumonia, and she\u2019s still monitoring her recovery six weeks after her original diagnosis. But she never landed in the hospital.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy main thing is, I can\u2019t imagine what would have happened without the antibodies that I did have from the vaccine,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

What we know about delta<\/div>\n

All viruses naturally mutate over time, which gives rise to variants. Delta, first detected in India, is one of four variants of concern identified by the CDC. It is the dominant variant in La Plata County, Colorado and the United States.<\/p>\n

Two characteristics of delta are most concerning: One, it is twice as contagious as past variants, and two, early research suggests it could cause more severe cases of COVID-19, Herlihy said.<\/p>\n

\u201cBecause of that, individuals who are not fully vaccinated are really at greater risk than ever in the pandemic of getting COVID-19 and then potentially having a severe outcome from COVID-19,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

But delta also comes with a twist: It is so contagious that vaccinated people can still spread it. Health professionals are also spotting more so-called \u201cbreakthrough\u201d cases, when a vaccinated person, like Taylor, shows symptoms of the disease.<\/p>\n

In La Plata and Archuleta counties, about 5% of the cases from January through July, or 119 out of 2,130, were breakthrough cases, according to San Juan Basin Public Health.<\/p>\n

And about 6% of hospitalized people were fully vaccinated, most of whom have existing health conditions, said Brian Devine, SJBPH deputy incident commander for COVID-19 response.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe virus evolves over time. When it finds an evolution or mutation that helps it spread or survive, that\u2019s going to become widespread,\u201d Devine said. \u201cIt\u2019s totally appropriate for the public to be on the lookout for changes in how the virus behaves so we can adjust how we fight against it in our own lives.\u201d<\/p>\n

Vaccines continue to provide strong protection against severe cases of COVID-19, hospitalization and death, according to health professionals. The vast majority of people who get sick and end up in the hospital with COVID-19 are unvaccinated.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are human coronaviruses that cause the common cold. It\u2019s highly likely that this particular coronavirus will get to that point sometime in the future \u2013 once it\u2019s very widespread and everyone has been exposed to it and vaccinated,\u201d Devine said.<\/p>\n

\"Vanessa
Vanessa Taylor sits with her daughter Rhyse, 9, on Wednesday at their Durango home. Taylor said her bout with COVID-19 would have been worse if she had not been vaccinated. (Jerry McBride\/Durango Herald)<\/span>cca<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>
Three pandemic realities<\/div>\n

The pandemic experience in 2021 shifts dramatically depending on whether a person has had a shot in the arm.<\/p>\n

For unvaccinated residents in La Plata and Archuleta counties, the spread of COVID-19 is as rampant as it was in the winter of 2020.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s when the counties saw their largest surge of cases around Thanksgiving, according to SJBPH.<\/p>\n

But vaccinated people are much less likely to catch the virus.<\/p>\n

Statewide, their case rate, measured as a seven-day average, is three cases per 100,000 people. The unvaccinated population has a case rate of 17 cases per 100,000 \u2013 more than five times higher.<\/p>\n

These people are living in conditions similar to mid-October 2020, when case numbers were ramping up, Herlihy said.<\/p>\n

Then there are the people who have been vaccinated, but have existing health conditions that compromise their immune systems.<\/p>\n

Samantha Larkin Huggins, a Durango resident with multiple sclerosis, has to live life like she was never vaccinated \u2013 she does not have any antibodies to fight the virus.<\/p>\n

Julie Korb, a professor at Fort Lewis College, said it is the same for her daughter, Amara Kirk, 14, who was diagnosed with leukemia at age 12.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey basically say get vaxxed, act like you\u2019re not,\u201d Korb said.<\/p>\n

For her daughter, the coronavirus poses a daily risk. Korb said wearing masks and getting vaccinated was about compassion for people who can\u2019t defend themselves against the virus, no matter what they do.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe main thing is to realize that your choices have an effect on other people,\u201d she said. \u201cTo take responsibility, be kind and think about our community.\u201d<\/p>\n

Valerie McKinnis, a hospitalist at Mercy, said her 75-year-old father was diagnosed with COVID-19 after being vaccinated in February, another breakthrough case.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s been terrifying,\u201d she said. \u201cI\u2019ve been taking care of patients with COVID for a long time, and that\u2019s deeply affected me as a physician and a human being. But it\u2019s a different thing when it\u2019s someone you love.\u201d<\/p>\n

Her father, Jerry Bauman of Kansas, has rheumatoid arthritis. He ended up in the hospital twice while fighting the virus.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe would not have survived had he not had the vaccine. If he had not had some partial immune response, he would not have come home from the hospital,\u201d she said. \u201cHis recovery, even though he had to be hospitalized \u2026 has been remarkable.\u201d<\/p>\n

At work, she said her patients are mostly unvaccinated people but some are similar to her dad, vaccinated but with other health conditions.<\/p>\n

\u201cUntil we get to a level of viral suppression, the virus will continue to mutate. And then it gets really scary,\u201d she said. \u201cBecause then we have to develop a vaccine to target another part of the virus, with all that entails.\u201d<\/p>\n

smullane@durangoherald.com<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

Editor\u2019s note: This story was updated to correct a typo in a quote by Valerie McKinnis.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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