Florida has become America’s new ‘super-COVID’ hotspot, leading the country in known cases.
At least 46 cases of the highly contagious variant first identified in the UK have been found in the State of the Sun, more than double the initial number of 22.
This occurred just 20 days after the first case was identified on New Year’s Eve.
The new strain, B 1.1.7., Is feared to be up to 70 percent more transmissible and to spread more easily among children.
On the same day, 13 cases were identified by a North Carolina laboratory, which has reported no cases of the variant to date.
This means that almost 150 Americans have been infected with the strain since the first case was identified last year.
Recently, University of Arizona researchers say it may have occurred in the U.S. six weeks a little earlier than expected.
The team says the variant may have been behind a group of cases in California that were traced back to November 6 and another that occurred in Florida on November 23.
In addition, a recent report by the World Health Organization (WHO) revealed that 60 counties around the world are reporting cases of the variant.
At least 146 Americans in 21 states were infected with the highly contagious coronavirus variant first detected in the UK
A new WHO report concluded that B 1.1.7. was detected in 60 countries (yellow and stripes), 10 nations more than seven days ago
There are currently 146 cases in 21 U.S. states, according to an analysis by DailyMail.com of federal and state data.
This includes at least 46 cases in Florida; 40 in California; 13 in North Carolina; six in Colorado; five in Minnesota; four in Indiana and New York; two in Connecticut, Maryland and Texas; and one each in Georgia, Illinois, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Mexico, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Utah, Wisconsin and Wyoming.
North Carolina cases are the most recent identified by MAKO Medical Laboratories, which has two locations in Henderson and the third in Raleigh.
“Our findings show that the mutation has started to work in the United States,” said Steve Hoover, vice president of laboratory operations at MAKO Medical, in a statement.
“We are in constant communication with public health leaders to keep them informed and up to date.”
Florida, however, leads the country in cases with 46.
Dr. Marco Salemi, professor and molecular biologist at the University of Florida, told the Miami Herald that he is calling on state and federal governments to expand surveillance of the new variant.
“We know it’s in Florida,” he said.
‘What percentage [of cases] it is impossible to say. The genomes we have were probably collected before or at the beginning of the introduction of [the variant] For florida. ‘
The Florida Department of Health has sequenced only about 3,000 samples so far.
Last week, the CDC published a report predicting that the new variant will become the dominant strain in March 2021.
This prompted President Joe Biden to ask for more funding for efforts to genetically sequence the virus at the federal level.
Meanwhile, in your weekly update launched on Tuesday, WHO announced so-called B 1.1.7. is now in 10 more countries than it was seven days ago.
Counties outside the United Kingdom must report cases of the variant: Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Spain and the USA
The WHO report also mentioned cousins close to the variant that were first identified in South Africa and Brazil.
The South African variant has already been identified in 23 countries, three more nations than 10 days ago.
The strain emerged in southeastern England in October, in the county of Kent, and quickly became the dominant strain in Britain.
This led to a massive increase in infections, with one in 30 Londoners infected, leading the country to a third blockade.
In a recent statement, Dr. Ashish K Jha, dean of Brown University School of Public Health, said urgent aggressive action is needed to limit the spread of new strains, as several health systems experience a severe shortage of beds and resources.
“This new, more infectious variant will change the underlying dynamics of the pandemic, with the exponential growth of infections making the virus much more difficult to contain and overwhelming our stressed health system.
“The US health care system is already reeling under the burden of the pandemic caused by the current (old) strain,” he wrote.
But, perhaps most importantly, Jha says vaccination efforts across the country need to be stepped up
Gigi Gronvall, an immunologist and senior researcher at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security, agrees.
“I don’t think anyone thinks this variant is the reason why we had such terrible numbers in the United States, but this is not a good indicator when you look at whether things could be even worse,” she told Miami Herald.
– So we need to put vaccines in the arms as soon as possible.
