These states will experience a delta wave virus expert warns

 

These states will experience a delta wave virus expert warns

The delta variant led to a significant increase in cases across the country, but the damage was not spread evenly. Over the past two months, some states had seen a massive rise in cases, breaking previous records from last winter's surge before vaccinations began, while others appear to have escaped the worst of the Delta. But with patients stabilizing or declining in some of the hardest-hit states.

On September 3, former Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Commissioner Scott Gottlieb, MD, told CNBC's Squawk Box that he had a prediction about where the next surge would be in the country. "I think there's a kind of realization that we crossed this delta wave here in the Northeast because we've seen delta cases go up and down in places like the New York metropolitan area. And we also see [testing] the positives go down."

But as far as Gottlieb is concerned, the Northeast of the Delta is not finished yet. "I don't think that was the real delta wave," he said. "I think that was a delta warning." Gottlieb predicts that the true delta wave in the northeastern states "will begin to build after Labor Day."

While the delta variant wreaked havoc in southern states throughout August, other parts of the country didn't see a rise in cases as dramatic. "We'll probably see an increase in cases here in the northeast," Gottlieb added. "I don't think we're done with that."

The former commissioner of the FDA believes that cases have peaked in many southern states and will begin to decline as northern states see the opposite trend. Labor Day gatherings and return to classrooms for millions of children are expected to serve as "incubators for the spread," increasing case numbers in the coming weeks.