PINELLAS COUNTY, Fla. The new and apparently contagious variant of the coronavirus, which first appeared in the United Kingdom, is spreading in the USA in Colorado and California. Although not yet reported in Florida, a USF scientist says the new strain is probably already here.
“If it’s already in Colorado and California, it’s probably already here in Florida,” said Dr. Michael Teng, a virologist and associate professor of medicine at the University of South Florida, said.
Although the variant appears to be more transmissible, it is not more lethal.
“It’s here, but it’s not something to freak out about,” said Dr. Teng said.
Health experts say our vaccines should be about as effective in dealing with the variant as our current virus strain once the general public is vaccinated. But there is a big concern.
“We do not currently do much active supervision of this,” said Dr. Teng said.
Officials in Colorado and California used genetic sequencing to discover the new strain, but this type of screening is not as widespread in the US
“The UK has put a lot of effort and done a pretty good job of arranging the succession of 7% of all their cases. The US, on the other hand, has followed up about 0.3%. That’s 20 times less than the UK,” he said.
Dr. Teng cites the latest data from the GISAID Initiative, which provides open access to global coronavirus genomic data.
Sequence is a powerful tool in the fight against the coronavirus. This allows scientists to detect and control the virus. They can determine what it is like that a type of virus has led to an outbreak and devise a plan to contain it through the community. It also enables them to see how the virus has changed and whether a mutation adversely affects the effectiveness of our current vaccines.
‘We are the world leader in advanced genomics research [but] for the number of cases we have, the USA is something like the 43rd in the world in the order of genomes, ‘said dr. Teng said.
Isabel Rosales
It’s like flying without radar.
‘The next variant is perhaps one of the variants we really do not want in our community, which could cause the vaccine to lose its effectiveness. That would be really bad. We are fully capable of detecting it. But if we do not look for it. We will never find it, ‘he said.
He says the US already has the brilliant thinking and technology to keep up with British production.
‘This is not the lack of capabilities in the United States. This is the lack of a very well-defined program with strong leadership, and an impetus to do so, ‘he said.
Dr. Teng believes it is up to the American public to push leaders for more order.
“What we want to do is try to tell leaders to get on with it and really track down a little bit because we really need to be able to track down,” he said.
On Thursday, December 31, the FDOH confirmed a case of the new variant in Florida.
Florida has evidence of the first identified case of the British COVID-19 variant in Martin County. The individual is a man in his twenties with no travel history. The department is working with the CDC on this investigation. We encourage everyone to continue mitigating COVID-19.
– Florida Dept. Health (@HealthyFla) 1 January 2021