Florida’s COVID-19 variant cases have doubled, says CDC

Florida has twice as many confirmed cases of a COVID-19 variant as last week, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said in new figures released on Monday, raising concerns that a more contagious strain is spreading.

The most recent CDC data shows 293 confirmed cases of COVID-19 caused by variants in the United States. Of these, 92 are in Florida – double the 46 cases confirmed in the state last week.

The CDC does not specify the location of these cases within the states.

The number of confirmed variant cases in Florida is the highest in the county, with California close behind at 90.

Health experts have warned that the most contagious and possibly deadliest variant that is sweeping Britain is likely to become the dominant source of infection in the United States in March.

Other mutant versions are circulating in South Africa and Brazil. The Brazil variant was first detected in the United States in a Minnesota resident who recently traveled to the South American country, state health officials said on Monday.

The more the virus spreads, the more opportunities it has to mutate. The fear is that this will end up making vaccines ineffective.

To protect himself against the new variants, President Joe Biden on Monday added South Africa to the list of more than two dozen countries whose residents are subject to coronavirus-related limits on entering the United States.

Most non-American citizens who have been to Brazil, Ireland, Great Britain and other European nations will be prevented from entering the United States by the rules reinstated by Biden after President Donald Trump acted to relax them.

Fauci said that scientists are already preparing to adjust COVID-19 vaccines to combat mutant versions.

He said that there is “a very slight and modest decrease” in the effectiveness of the COVID-19 vaccines against these variants, but “there is sufficient cushioning with the vaccines that we have that we still consider them effective” against both.

Moderna, maker of one of the two vaccines used in the U.S., announced on Monday that it is starting to test a possible booster dose against the South African variant. Moderna’s CEO, Stephane Bancel, said the move came from “over-caution,” after preliminary laboratory tests suggested the injection produced a weaker immune response to this variant.

Florida on Monday had seen 1,658,169 COVID-19 cases since the outbreak began and 25,446 resident deaths, according to the state health department.