Statistics released by the Delaware Public Health District on Wednesday reflect the recent resurgence of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“In the United States, cases continue to rise with a 170% increase in the past 14 days,” the DPHD posted on Facebook. “Hospitalizations also continue to rise and we are up 58% in the past 14 days. In the past 14 days, there’s been a 94.6% increase in pediatric cases. We are closely monitoring the Delta variant worldwide as it has shown to more contagious and may be contributing to the increase in cases, especially among the unvaccinated.”

The latest weekly COVID-19 Report numbers, with the previous week’s statistics in parentheses, are as follows: 17,071 total cases of coronavirus in Delaware County (16,947 last week); average new cases per day of COVID-19 increased to six per 100,000 population (three last week); 146 cases placed in isolation within last 10 days (60 last week); and 27,091 total vaccines administered by DPHD (27,081 last week).

Last week, the DPHD posted the following: “It’s important to highlight that we are starting to see an uptick in daily COVID-19 cases. A key factor rises to the top when analyzing this increase — vaccination status. Between March and July 2021, 99% of Health District cases were unvaccinated, 93% of COVID-related hospitalizations were unvaccinated and 100% of COVID-19 deaths were unvaccinated.

“This new national wave has been coined the ‘Pandemic of the Unvaccinated.’ It’s the first time since January that cases are increasing in every state. Hospitalizations are up 34% across the nation as well. Hospitalizations lag cases by 3-4 weeks, so this metric will continue to increase — especially among states with low vaccination rates. State-level hospitalization rates are strongly correlated with vaccination rates.

“We strongly encourage individuals age 12 and older get their COVID-19 vaccination if they have not already done so!”

The Ohio Department of Health’s Coronavirus (COVID-19) Vaccination Dashboard on Wednesday said Delaware County still leads the state’s 88 counties in the percentage of population who have started the vaccine, with 63.36%, or 132,538 people. Ohio’s totals are 5.7 million people, or 49% of the population, have started on the vaccine.

Delaware County also has the highest percentage of population who have completed receiving the vaccination, with 60.38% or 126,302 people. The state totals are 5.3 million people, or nearly 46% of the population, have completed receiving the vaccine.

Delaware County is 14th-most in the state with 19,169 cases. The ODH said 340 Delaware County residents have been hospitalized, and 138 people have died. The discrepancies in the county totals by the two agencies (DPHD and ODH) is based on additional jurisdictions reporting to ODH.

The ODH is also reporting there have been more than 1.1 million cases of COVID-19 in the state, with 61,753 hospitalizations and 20,490 deaths.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said cases in the United States have risen sharply in the last 30 days, while deaths are trending up slightly. As of Wednesday, there have been 34.6 million total cases of the coronavirus in the United States, resulting in 609,441 deaths. There have been 343.3 million total vaccines administered.

The CDC offered the following: “Guidance for People Fully Vaccinated: To maximize protection from the Delta variant and prevent possibly spreading it to others, wear a mask indoors in public if you are in an area of substantial or high transmission.”

President Joe Biden commented on the CDC’s guidance on Tuesday, calling it “another step on our journey to defeating” the infectious respiratory disease.

“The most important protection we have against the Delta variant is to get vaccinated,” President Biden said. “Although most U.S. adults are vaccinated, too many are not. While we have seen an increase in vaccinations in recent days, we still need to do better…Vaccinations are free, safe, and effective to every American. They’ve been available to every adult in this country for more than three months — at locations within 5 miles of 90% of the U.S. population.

“By following the science, and by doing our part by getting vaccinated, America can beat COVID,” Biden continued. “In the meantime, more vaccinations and mask wearing in the areas most impacted by the Delta variant will enable us to avoid the kind of lockdowns, shutdowns, school closures, and disruptions we faced in 2020. Unlike 2020, we have both the scientific knowledge and the tools to prevent the spread of this disease. We are not going back to that.”

The Johns Hopkins University of Medicine’s COVID-19 Resource Center said Wednesday there have been more than 195 million people worldwide who have contracted the coronavirus, resulting in more than 4.1 million deaths. The United States has the most cases and deaths. India is second in cases (31.4 million) and third in deaths (422,022), while Brazil is third in cases (19.7 million) and second in deaths (551,835). More than 3.9 billion vaccine doses have been administered globally.