Delta variant accounts for over 93 percent of new COVID-19 cases in US

WASHINGTON - The Delta variant accounts for an estimated 93.4 percent of all new COVID-19 cases in the United States during the last two weeks of July, according to figures published by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Wednesday.

This number is even higher in certain parts of the country, showed the updated figures for the week ending July 31. In the Midwest including Iowa, Kansas, Missouri and Nebraska, Delta variant accounts for more than 98 percent of all cases.

These figures have shown a rapid increase over the past two months. In the two weeks ending May 22, Delta's prevalence was estimated around 3 percent.

The daily average of new cases over the past week rose to 66,606 per day, from 40,597 the previous week, an increase of more than 64 percent, CDC said.