The Coronavirus pandemic that has plagued the United States, Michigan and Allegan County for the past 15 months has wound down statistically in just about every category, but a new variant is causing health officials worry.

As of Tuesday, June 29, only one more death over the last 10 days was reported by the County Health Department, but the new “Delta” strain of the virus has been identified in Ottawa and Kalamazoo counties, presenting new challenges.

The Allegan County Health Department Tuesday reported that 156 people have died as a result of the virus or its complications since the pandemic began in March 2020.

All other indicators continue to show the threats of the disease declining. In Michigan the positivity rate among cases has dipped below 2 percent and the number of new cases was below 200, even lower than the best statistics last summer.

The number of new daily cases in Allegan County was pegged at 2.6 over the past week. Positivity rate in testing cases now is 2.4%. Health department officials reported 76 cases daily over a seven-day average on April 20 in the county.

Hospitalizations from the virus remain at 255 and the number of Covid cases discovered in the more than 14 months in Allegan County now is 11,183. A total of 10,935 patients have been reported to have recovered from the virus.

More than 21,146 tests for the virus have been performed since the pandemic began in March 2020.

Michigan Covid statistics have declined so dramatically over the last couple of months that Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services have lifted virtually all mask and distancing restrictions.

However, the new Delta strain from India is widely regarded as more contagious and deadly than the first two that visited Michigan. It also was reported that more than 99 percent of all deaths from Covid were people who were not vaccinated.

The vaccinations have been credited with bringing down the numbers of deaths and hospitalizations, but the number of people getting two shots from Pfizer and Moderna has slowed to a crawl.

Five states with low vaccination rates have been identified as being seriously threatened by the Delta strain.