LOUISVILLE, Ky. — The delta variant has been blamed for a spike in COVID-19 cases across the country, including in Kentucky. But do the numbers back that up and how many are being tested for variants?
When a person is tested for coronavirus, it is not automatically tested for variants. To determine which variant a patient has, the test must be sent to the CDC for sequencing—a process which is expensive and can take weeks to get results.
As of July 19, Governor Andy Beshear said out of the total positive COVID-19 cases, only 4.5% are being tested for variants.
"Basically, what they're saying right now is we can sequence all we want, but virtually every case out there now, more than 90%, are the delta variant,” Beshear said.
Data from the Kentucky Health Department shows the prominent variant in the state over the course of the pandemic has been the B.1.1.7 variant, which was first discovered in the United Kingdom. The governor said the data is cumulative and the delta variant will soon surpass the B.1.1.7. variant cases.
"Because the more information we have, it just gives us more accurate information about what's circulating in the state of Kentucky and being on the lookout for these new variants that are bound to crop up. The more people know, the better decisions they can make for themselves and their community,” Leslie Wolf, laboratory technical director of Louisville Metro Public Health and Wellness.
A recent purchase by the health department in Louisville will drastically change how this information is obtained. In May, the department invested about $150,000 in variant detection equipment.
“Once we get positive samples in from patients, we can process those in a couple days and have results,” Wolf said.
The system can test 96 samples at a time and provide results on a weekly basis at a lower cost than sequencing. The department hopes to begin running samples this month.
Beshear said the system will be focused in Jefferson County and not the whole state.
For months FOCUS has asked health officials about the capacity to test and monitor which variants are in the Commonwealth. At the end of June, FOCUS received some data. FOCUS continues to track the trends and press leaders for answers when inconsistencies in the numbers are found.
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