The US recorded more than 20,000 new COVID-19 cases each of the past four days as the Delta variant spreads

• The last time the US had back-to-back days of over 20,000 COVID-19 cases was in May.
• The country recorded more than 20,000 daily cases for the past four days.
• Close to 48% of the population is fully vaccinated but the Delta variant is spreading quickly.
• See more stories on Insider’s business page.

The US recorded more than 20,000 daily COVID-19 cases for the past four days, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The trend comes as the more transmissible Delta variant spreads across the US and is expected to become the most dominant strain, CNN reported.

The last time the US had 20,000 cases a day for several days in a row was in May.

Experts urged residents to get vaccinated to help protect themselves and their communities from the variant that could cause more severe disease.

Dr. Rochelle Walensky, Director of the CDC, and Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases said pockets of the country with low vaccination rates are at the biggest risk.

“I’m concerned as this variant becomes more dominant, those select areas of the country that have a very low level of vaccination, like 30% or so, you’re going to start seeing mini-surges that are localized to certain regions,” Fauci told CNN.

Fauci also stressed that vaccination not only gives the recipient a high rate of protection but it also limits further mutations.

“It’s so easy to get vaccinated. Viruses don’t mutate if they can’t replicate, and you can prevent them from replicating by vaccinating enough people so that the virus has nowhere to go,” Fauci told NPR.

The White House COVID-19 Response Team has said almost all of COVID-19 hospitalizations and deaths are amongst those who are unvaccinated.

Close to 48% of all Americans are fully vaccinated with 55.4% receiving at least one dose of a vaccine, according to CDC data.