The highly contagious variant first identified in the UK probably accounts for up to 30% of Covid-19 infections in the United States, Drs. Anthony Fauci, medical adviser to the White House, said Friday.
The variant, called B.1.1.7, has been reported in at least 94 countries and detected in 50 jurisdictions in the U.S., Fauci said during a newsletter on the White House pandemic, adding that the numbers are likely to grow.
The UK identified the B.1.1.7 strain, which appears to spread more easily and faster than other varieties, last autumn. It has since spread around the world, including the US, Fauci said. U.S. researchers as of Thursday have identified 5,567 cases by genetic sequence, according to the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention. U.S. health officials say the variant could become the dominant strain by the end of this month or early April.
New variants are of particular concern to public health officials as they are resistant to antibody treatments and vaccinations. Top health officials, including Fauci, have urged Americans to be vaccinated as soon as possible and say the virus cannot mutate if it cannot infect and replicate the hosts.
Public health officials and Americans can counteract the variant by doing two things, Fauci said. “Let as many people as possible be vaccinated as quickly and as quickly as possible with a vaccine that we know works against this variant, and finally implement the public health measures we have been talking about all along … masking, physical distance and avoiding municipal institutions, especially indoors. “
A recent study published in the British Medical Journal found that the variant carries a 64% higher risk of dying from Covid-19 than earlier strains. Researchers at the University of Exeter and the University of Bristol analyzed data from more than 100,000 patients in the UK between 1 October and 28 January.
“We are currently in a place where we have about 53,000 cases a day,” Fauci said. ‘The concern is that there are a number of states, cities, regions across the country that are retreating on some of the mitigation methods we have been talking about: the withdrawal of mask mandates, the retreat to mainly non-public health measures are being implemented. “
Fauci’s comments on B.1.1.7 come a day after he talked to Republican Senator Rand Paul about mask during the trial.
Paul insisted that people do not have to wear masks after being vaccinated because there is a “virtually 0% chance” that they will get Covid-19. “Isn’t it just theater?” asked the Kentucky junior senator, an ophthalmologist, during a hearing on the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee.
In response, Fauci said the emergence of new, highly contagious variants poses a threat to people with antibodies. Can I just mention for the record that masks are not theater, “Fauci said. I totally disagree with you. “