WALLA WALLA—Throughout June, the Washington State Department of Health (DOH) has been using genome sequencing to identify COVID-19 variants around the state. Over the past week, Walla Walla County Department of Community Health (DCH) was notified that two variants had been identified in COVID specimens collected from the county. The two variants detected were variants P.1 (Gamma) and B.1.617.2 (Delta). They are the first known variant cases in the county.

First identified in India, the Delta variant has shown to be highly transmissible and easily spread from one individual to another. The Gamm...