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A Texas hospital reported its first case of the Lambda COVID-19 variant as cases rise across the state, ABC News writes.
The big picture: The Lambda variant was first detected in Peru last August. From this April through June, the variant made up 81% of COVID-19 cases in Peru, according to the World Health Organization.
- WHO categorizes it as a "variant of interest." It has been detected in 29 countries.
Driving the news: Houston Methodist Hospital reported its first case of the Lambda COVID-19 variant on Monday.
- The hospital had a little more than 100 COVID-19 patients across the eight hospitals in its network last week, but that number rose to 185 as of Monday. The majority of the infections are in those who remain unvaccinated.
- 85% have been diagnosed with the Delta variant, per ABC News, which is the top concern across the U.S. as it accounts for 83% of nationwide cases.
What they're saying: "I don't think there's sufficient evidence at this point that we should be more concerned about lambda than delta, I still think delta is the primary concern for us," Wesley Long, medical director of Diagnostic Microbiology at Houston Methodist, said, per ABC.
- "There's a lot more evidence that we have that delta is much more contagious, the viral loads are much higher," he added.