PEKIN, Ill. — Additional cases of the Delta variant have been detected in Central Illinois.
Pekin’s Reditus Labs reports 18 new cases of the highly transmissible variant of COVID-19 have been found in the Peoria and Bloomington areas over a three day period.
According to a news release, the Delta variant made up 18% of all COVID cases sampled by Reditus Labs between July 4-7.
Reditus CEO Dr. Aaron Rossi called the increase in the variant “substantial”.
The Delta variant now makes up roughly 83% of all new COVID-19 nationwide.
Over 400 cases of the variant have been reported in Illinois.
Rossi said his goal in sharing sequencing information from time to time is simply to keep the public aware of the spreading variants.
Reditus Labs’ data is also shared with the Illinois Department of Public Health, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and GISAID, a global initiative that provides access to genomic data of influenza viruses and COVID-19.
