Variants of the coronavirus continue to spread across the United States, accounting for more and more cases.
The local variant of California, known as B.1.427 / B.1.429, now accounts for more than half of infections in the state and 20 to 40 percent of cases in neighboring states.
Meanwhile, the UK variant, known as B.1.1.7, has spread to all states and represents almost one in 10 cases in at least two states.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) previously suggested that B.1.1.7 would become the dominant strain in the United States in March, which until now has not been the case.
The latest estimate from outbreak.info is that the UK variant accounts for 35% of all cases in the country.
At least 6,638 cases of various mutant strains have been identified across the country, according to the CDC.
At a news conference on Monday, the director of the CDC, Dr. Rochelle Walensky, said that measures should be taken depending on the variants until more people can be vaccinated.
‘I understand. We all want to get back to our daily activities and spend time with our family, friends and loved ones. But we must find the courage to take it just a little longer, ‘she said.
“We need to act now and I am concerned that if we don’t take the right measures now, we will have another preventable outbreak.”
The prevalence of all coronavirus variants – both those detected for the first time and those grown at home – are spreading across the United States
At a press conference on Monday (photo), the director of the CDC, Dr. Rochelle Walensky, said that measures should be taken in light of the variants until more people can be vaccinated
During the press conference, Walensky discussed the prevalence of the California variant, which was first identified in May 2020 and practically non-existent until October.
In a recent study, the University of California at San Francisco analyzed 2,172 samples of the virus collected between September 2020 and January 2021 across California.
In January, the new variant accounted for more than 50 percent of all genetically analyzed coronavirus samples.
Currently, according to Walensky, the variant accounts for 52% of infections in California, 41% in Nevada and 25% in Arizona.
Dr. Charles Chiu, professor of laboratory medicine and infectious disease specialist at UCSF, told the Los Angeles Times that the virus appeared to be more transmissible than previous strains between 19% and 24%.
In laboratory studies conducted at UCSF, the researchers analyzed the genetic material found in nasal swabs that were used to perform coronavirus tests.
They found that B.1.427 / B.1.429 produced a viral load twice as high as that triggered by other variants.
This suggests that the local variant is better for copying more quickly, as it enters the human body and hijacks your machine.
Although this has not yet been definitively tested, a higher viral load is a sign that someone infected with the variant can be especially contagious, spreading the virus more efficiently and effectively.
In addition, the California variant was more effective in evading antibodies produced naturally by the bodies of survivors of COVID-19 or produced by vaccines. The levels of antibodies produced in response to the California variant were twice as low.
On Monday, Walensky revealed that the local California variant, B.1.427 / B.1.429, now accounts for 52% of state cases
It has also spread to nearby states and now accounts for 41% of COVID-19 infections in Nevada and 25% in Arizona
Walensky also discussed the prevalence of United Kingdom variant, which is known as, B.1.1.7 due to the location of its most significant mutations.
It now accounts for at least 80 percent of all cases in Britain and most estimates place it at around 70 percent more infectious than the older variants of the ‘wild’ coronavirus.
In a new study published last month on the medRxiv.org prepress server, a team sequenced 500,000 samples of the virus, called SARS-CoV-2, which has been tested at Helix facilities since July 2020.
Starting in the week of October 18, 2020, only 0.2 percent of daily positive cases appeared to be linked to the UK variant.
The first case was identified in the United States on December 31, showing that the variant was in the country long before it was believed.
However, the increase skyrocketed in January.
The UK variant, known as B.1.1.7, has also become more widespread, making up 9% of coronavirus cases in New Jersey and 8% in Florida
Cases linked to B.1.1.7. tripled in Ohio over two weeks, from 33 on March 7 to 128 on Monday
The national proportion 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 is responsible for 8% of all cases in Florida and 9% in New Jersey.
In addition, cases of the UK variant tripled in Ohio over two weeks, from 33 on March 7 to 128 on Monday.
“We are frankly in a race and we do not know frankly what the enemy is doing,” Ohio Governor Mike DeWine said during a briefing last week.
“But we know from talking to scientists and epidemiologists that they believe the variants are spreading in Ohio.”