Coronavirus variants are still spreading across the United States, making up more and more cases.
California’s homemade variant, known as B.1.427 / B.1.429, now accounts for more than half of the infections in the state and 20 to 40 percent of the cases in neighboring states.
Meanwhile, the British variant, known as B.1.1.7, has spread to each state and consists of at least one in ten cases in at least two states.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) had previously suggested that B.1.1.7 would become the dominant tribe by March in March, which has not been the case so far.
The latest estimate from outbreak.info is that the UK variant accounts for 35 per cent of all cases in the country.
According to the CDC, at least 6,638 cases of varying mutant strains across the country have been identified.
In a press conference on Monday, dr. Rochelle Walensky, director of the CDC, said steps should be taken in light of variants until more people can be vaccinated.
‘I understand. We all want to return to our everyday activities and spend time with our family, friends and loved ones. But we have to find the strength to hang in there just a little bit longer, ‘she said.
“We have to act now and I’m worried that if we do not take the right action now, we’ll have another inevitable boom.
The prevalence of all coronavirus variants – both the first detected and the homemade – spread across the USA
In a press briefing on Monday (photo), dr. Rochelle Walensky, director of the CDC, said steps should be taken in light of variants until more people can be vaccinated.
During the press conference, Walensky discussed the appearance of the California variant first identified in May 2020 and virtually non-existent until October.
In a recent study, the University of California, San Francisco looked at 2,172 samples of the virus collected in California between September 2020 and January 2021.
By January, the new variant accounted for more than 50 percent of all genetically analyzed coronavirus samples.
Currently, the variant, according to Walensky, accounts for 52 percent of infections in California, 41 percent in Nevada and 25 percent in Arizona.
Dr. Charles Chiu, a professor of laboratory medicine and expert on infectious diseases at UCSF, told the Los Angeles Times that the virus appears to be 19 to 24 percent more transmissible than earlier strains.
In laboratory studies conducted at UCSF, the researchers analyzed genetic material found on nasal swabs used to perform coronavirus tests.
They found that B.1.427 / B.1.429 produces a viral load that is twice as much as that caused by other variants.
This suggests that the homemade variant is better at copying itself faster once it enters the human body and cuts down its machinery.
Although not yet finally tested, a higher virus load is a sign that someone infected with the variant may be particularly contagious and can spread the virus more effectively.
In addition, the California variant was more effective at evading antibodies naturally produced by the bodies of COVID-19 survivors or by vaccines. The levels of antibodies produced as a result of the California variant were twice as low.
On Monday, Walensky revealed that California’s homemade variant, B.1.427 / B.1.429, now accounts for 52% of state affairs.
It has also spread to nearby states and now accounts for 41% of COVID-19 infections in Nevada and 25% in Arizona
Walensky also has the appearance of the British variant, known as, B.1.1.7 due to the location of the major mutations.
It is now responsible for at least 80 per cent of all cases in Britain, and according to most estimates it is about 70 per cent more contagious than older coronavirus variants.
In a new study published last month on the preprinted server medRxiv.org, a team has tracked 500,000 samples of the virus, called SARS-CoV-2, in Helix facilities since July 2020.
Starting the week of 18 October 2020, it appears that only 0.2 per cent of the daily positive cases are linked to the UK variant.
The first case was identified on December 31 in the US, showing that the variant was in the country much earlier than previously believed.
However, the rise began to increase rapidly in January.
The countrywide part of B 1.1.7. cases increased from 0.8 percent of all positive tests during the first week of January 2021 to 3.6 percent in the last week.
According to Walensky, B.1.1.7 covers eight percent of all cases in Florida and nine percent in New Jersey.
The British variant, known as B.1.1.7, has also spread more widely, accounting for 9% of coronavirus cases in New Jersey and 8% in Florida.
Matters linked to B.1.1.7. tripled in Ohio over the course of two weeks from 33 on Monday 7 to 128 on Monday
In addition, cases of the British variant in Ohio tripled over the course of two weeks, from 33 on 7 to 128 on Monday.
“We are honestly in a race and we do not honestly know what the enemy is doing,” Ohio De Goine Mike DeWine said during a briefing last week.
“But by talking to scientists and epidemiologists, we know they believe the variants are spreading in Ohio.”
Health officials in Ohio suspect that the British variant will become the dominant tribe in the state by April.