British coronavirus variant spreads rapidly in the US as cases double every 10 days.

We already knew that the highly contagious coronavirus variant first detected in the UK was moving through the United States. Now, a new pre-print study makes clear how fast it spreads, as data show that its incidence doubles approximately every ten days among all COVID-19 cases.

According to the calculations of the study, which have not yet been evaluated, the British variant, known as B.1.1.7, could become the dominant strain in the United States by March. This estimate confirms an earlier forecast from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released last month. “Our study shows that the US is on a similar trajectory as in other countries where B.1.1.7 has quickly become the dominant SARS-CoV-2 variant, requiring immediate and decisive action to reduce the disease and mortality of covid- 19 to minimize, “the authors write. of the new study.

The study, which was placed on the preprint server MedRxiv, concludes that this new COVID-19 variant is approximately 35 to 45 percent more transmissible than the other strains currently found in the United States. This is consistent with previous estimates, although researchers said the number could be even higher. “It’s here, it’s deep in this country, and it’s on its way to becoming the dominant sex quickly,” said Michael Worobey, an evolutionary biologist at the University of Arizona and co-author of the new article.

The new variant spreads particularly rapidly in Florida, with the highest number of cases in which B.1.1.7 is followed, followed by California. Kristian Andersen, an immunologist at the Scripps Research Institute and co-author of the new study, said the percentage of infections in Florida involving the new variant has increased from less than five percent to about 10 percent in the past week alone. Experts believe this dynamic may be due to the way Florida was not strict with the mandate to impose masks and other restrictions to slow down the spread of the coronavirus.

The early data could amount to a warning sign for governments about the problems ahead, especially as several countries have recently had increases in infections associated with this new variant. “A very serious situation can indeed develop within a few months or weeks,” Nicholas Davies, an epidemiologist at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine who was not involved in the study, told the New York Times said. “These may be early signals that warrant urgent investigation by public health authorities.”