The new, more contagious variant of COVID which originated in the United Kingdom is probably in more US states than is currently known, Anthony Fauci tell it Newsweek.
The variant, known as B.1.1.7, first appeared in Colorado last week and has since been identified in California, Florida, New York and Georgia. It is believed that B.1.1.7 is to blame for an increase in COVID cases in the UK because it is better to spread than the forms of the virus in the past. People do not seem to get sick.
Fauci, a top immunologist and director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, tells Newsweek On Tuesday, he would be “very surprised” if the British variant did not spread in a number of more states and more in the United States than we currently see it.
He pointed to a prediction he made when the British tribe had not yet been reported in the US, and believes it was not found at the time.
“I said I’m sure it’s here, we just have not found it yet. And I think it’s very clear that it’s going to be in places like California and New York and Colorado … it’s going to be in soon several more states. ‘
A new variant of a virus emerges when it accumulates significant new mutations. The term “mutation” sounds worrying, but these genetic changes usually occur as part of the life cycle of viruses. Thousands of mutations of COVID since the onset of the pandemic.
Sometimes, however, mutations can affect how the virus behaves, as with the British variant, as well as another from South Africa. not uploaded in the US, but Fauci apparently present.
Fauci says the British variant “has a clear effect on the function of the virus” by making it easier to spread among humans.
“We take it very seriously. Because if you’re bigger transferability, you will get more business. If you get more cases, you get more hospitalizations. And if you get more hospitalizations, you end up getting more deaths. ‘
Speaking in the UK on Monday to announce a third nationwide restrictionPrime Minister Boris Johnson said B.1.1.7 is 50 to 70 percent more contagious than forms of the past COVID. He said the number admitted to hospital COVID patients in England were 40 per cent higher than the first peak in April, and COVID deaths have increased by more than 20 percent in the past week.
Asked if he expects business to climb in the US as in the UK thanks to the variant, Fauci said they were “already sharp,” emphasizing the fact that the country often breaks records for deaths, hospitalizations and cases.
On Tuesday, for example, there were 131,195 people in the hospital COVID in the usa, to set a new record after the COVID Tracking Project, which is the 35th day that the country has had more than 100,000 hospitalizations.
Our daily update is published. States reported 1.6 million tests, 214,000 cases, a record 131,195 COVID-19 patients and 3,478 deaths. pic.twitter.com/wMexUooSar
– The COVID shell project (@ COVID19Tracking) 6 January 2021
“We have our own problems with increasing cases,” he said. ‘I do not think the British mutation [variant] was responsible for the considerable increase in cases in the United States, because the British variant is here, but it is not the dominant tribe in the United States. But even if it is not the dominant tribe, we still have a very steep curve in our country. ‘
Fauci said that people should follow the same public health measures recommended by the whole pandemic to protect themselves against the new variants. This includes wearing a mask, inside and out, he said, to keep physical distance from people, especially when they are indoors, avoiding crowds and washing hands frequently.
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