Kansas became the last US state to report a case of the UK variant of COVID it is feared that it will be more deadly than previous forms of the virus.
Kansas Department of Health and Environment (KDHE) said an investigation was launched to determine how the person was infected with the variant called B.1.1.7., and whether other people were exposed after a resident in Ellis County fell ill
Lee Norman, secretary of KDHE, said in a statement: “This discovery does not change our public health recommendations. We continue to encourage people to take appropriate precautions: follow isolation and quarantine recommendations, practice physical distance and good hygiene, wear masks, stay at home if you are sick and get the vaccine if you are able, once the supply is sufficient. “
Since the first case of B.1.1.7 in the United States was reported in Colorado last December, 541 cases have been detected in 33 states, according to the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Florida and California have the highest number of cases B.1.1.7, 186 and 127, respectively. As shown by Statista chart below that was created on February 1st, the USA is the country with the best known COVID cases, with the United Kingdom in fourth position.
A CDC report published in mid-January said that a model of the variant’s trajectory suggested that it had the potential to become the dominant form of the virus in the United States in March.
The spread comes amid concerns B.1.1.7 is not only more infectious than previous types of COVID, but more deadly. On Wednesday, CDC director Rochelle Walensky said MSNBC: “We know that some of the variants have increased Transmissibility, there is increasing data to suggest that some of the variants, variant B.1.1.7 may actually … lead to increased mortality. “
Last month, UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson said: “[There is] some evidence that the new variant – the variant that was first identified in London and the south east – may be associated with a greater degree of mortality. “
He said the new variant is putting the country’s health system under “intense pressure”. The UK is currently in its third country confinement of the pandemic, in part thanks to the emergence of the variant.
Patrick Vallance, the UK government’s leading scientific adviser, said at the time: “I want to emphasize that there is a lot of uncertainty around these numbers and we need more work to gain precise control over them, but it is obviously a concern that this has an increase in mortality, as well as an increase in Transmissibility. “
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