HANCOCK — Six cases of the Delta COVID-19 variant have been found in Houghton County, along with two in Gogebic County, the Western Upper Peninsula Health Department announced Thursday afternoon.

The variants were discovered through testing by the Department of Health and Human Services Bureau of Laboratories. Because of the genome sequencing involved, there is about a 10-day waiting period for results, said WUPHD Medical Director Kate Beer.

“Originally, it was suspect cases — maybe a breakthrough case, or somebody that was really having some major issues,” she said. “But now the state’s requesting that labs try to send as many samples as they can so they can get a better picture of the level of Delta within the community.”

As with other positive cases, contract tracing and case evaluation was done in those positive cases, Beer said.

“With the results coming back so much later, sometimes it’s very hard to do all the contact tracing that’s necessary,” she said. “That’s why it’s important that we go back to prevention measures like hand-washing, vaccination and social distancing.”

Because of the greater chance of spreading the virus, the WUPHD is recommending a 14-day quarantine for people infected with Delta, up from 10 days.

The seven-day average for Houghton County is 11.7 daily cases per million, putting it at a low level of community transmission by Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines.

The delta variant is about twice as contagious as the original strain of COVID, and 50% more transmissible than the next most infectious variant. It accounts for 83% of current cases in the United States, the CDC said.

While it is possible for vaccinated people to contract and spread the Delta variant, it is rarer. And the vaccines have been shown to offer protection: of recent cases requiring hospitalization, about 97% were unvaccinated.

Beer said there has yet to be much of an uptick locally. About 51.8 of the population 12 years or older have gotten at least one dose, according to the CDC. Vaccinations were only up 0.5% in the past week, Beer said.

The WUPHD has had a number of walk-up vaccination clinics over the summer, including at the Hancock Tori. No more are scheduled for now, though the department may line some up, Beer said.

“We’re considering that, especially with the schools going into session here soon,” Beer said. “We’re looking at what our options are right now, and just overall encouraging people to get vaccinated.”