White Covid task force warns of possible redistribution of ‘American variant’

According to the White House Coronavirus Task Force, there may be a new variant of the virus that has developed in the US and is spreading, according to a document obtained by NBC News.

The new variant, in addition to the British variant, is already spreading in communities and could be 50% more transferable, according to the report released to states on 3 January.

According to the report, the task force said the recent increase in business was almost twice the rate seen in the spring and summer seasons. The U.S. records at least 228,400 new Covid-19 cases and at least 2,760 virus-related deaths each day, based on a seven-day average calculated by CNBC using Johns Hopkins University data. The U.S. reported its deadliest day on Thursday with more than 4,000 deaths.

“This acceleration suggests that there may be an American variant that has developed here, in addition to the British variant that is already spreading in our communities and is 50% more transferable,” the report reads. “Aggressive mitigation should be used to match a more aggressive virus; without the uniform implementation of effective face masking (two or three layers and well-fitting) and strict social removal, epidemics can quickly worsen as these variants spread and become predominant.”

Representatives from the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention and the Department of Health and Human Services did not immediately return CNBC’s requests for comment.

Little detail is given about the new American tribe in the report, including how long it has been circulating. Over the past few weeks, the U.S. has increased its genomic ranges to detect other strains.

Public health officials have been concerned about the arrival of a new type of virus found in the UK known as B.1.1.7.

The CDC has identified at least 52 cases of Covid-19 with the B.1.1.7 mutation in the US, according to information last updated on the agency’s website on Thursday. However, the CDC warns that their numbers “do not represent the total number of B.1.1.7 lineage cases that may spread in the United States” and that this may not be consistent with the figures reported by local officials.

So far, the CDC has only shown California, Florida, New York, Colorado and Georgia with cases of the B.1.1.7 variant, but other states such as Connecticut, Pennsylvania and Texas on Thursday announced the arrival of tensions in their states.

Michael Osterholm, a member of President-elect Joe Biden’s advisory board Covid-19, said Tuesday that the U.S. is likely to release more new variants of the virus.

Osterholm, an epidemiologist and Director of the Center for Infectious Diseases Research and Policy at the University of Minnesota, said in an interview with CNBC that the strain discovered in the United Kingdom is a very major source of concern. ‘

“And this is probably the first of probably a number of these tribes to emerge while we are in the pandemic at this stage,” he added.

This is an evolving story. Please come and check for updates.