Over 96 per cent of COVID-19 cases in Niagara Region are Delta variant

While Sunday (August 22) only saw nine new cases of COVID-19 in Niagara Region, it is pretty clear that Dr Mustafa Hirji’s warnings about the Delta variant are unfolding as predicted.

As Niagara’s Acting Medical Officer of Health, Hirji has long been warning that the Delta variant would be a particularly virulent strain of the virus as he watched it become the dominant form throughout the US over the last two months.

With 147 active cases in Niagara, an overwhelming 96.3 per cent are identified as the Delta variant or likely to be Delta.

St Catharines continues to have the most cases in the region – more than a third of the total – with 50 active cases. Niagara Falls follows with 35 while Welland has 16 and Lincoln has 14.

Wainfleet remains the sole COVID-free community in Niagara.