The director of the CDC says that we should treat all COVID-19 cases as if they were a variant of the virus

The director of the CDC says that we should treat all COVID-19 cases as if they were a variant of the virus

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a bicycle parked on the side of a building: a nurse enters a tent for coronavirus patients set up at the University Medical Center on October 30, 2020 in El Paso, Texas. Cengiz Yar / Getty Images


© Cengiz Yar / Getty Images
A nurse enters a tent for coronavirus patients set up at the University Medical Center on October 30, 2020 in El Paso, Texas. Cengiz Yar / Getty Images

  • The new Director of the CDC warns that we have to treat each COVID-19 case as if it could be a variant, as more cases of highly contagious variants are discovered in the USA.
  • There were 379 confirmed cases of the variant discovered for the first time in the United Kingdom.
  • Some vaccines appear to be less effective against a variant first detected in South Africa.
  • Visit the Business Insider home page for more stories.

As cases of coronavirus variants are reported in the United States, the new director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says we should treat all cases of COVID-19 as if they were a variant.

Dr. Rochelle Walensky said the authorities are speeding up tracking of the variants, but asked Americans to continue wearing masks and social distance, during a COVID-19 meeting on Friday.

“The moment someone has symptoms, gets tested, has a positive result and we get the sequence, our opportunity to do a real case control and contact tracking is gone,” said Walensky. “We must treat each case as if it were a variant during this pandemic now.”

Walensky said that 379 cases of variant B.1.1.7, which was first detected in the UK, have now been confirmed in 29 states.

Gallery: You can become infected with COVID in this totally new way, says study (Best Life)

a person holding a cell phone: The emergence of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, has turned the world upside down in a way that we could never have imagined. Even now, a year later, the virus is still changing and continues to confuse and challenge experts. Currently, new strains of the virus are emerging in different pockets of the globe, some of which are the most worrying in the United Kingdom, South Africa and Brazil. They are about 50% more transmissible than the current dominant strain and, in some cases, are affecting the effectiveness of treatments and vaccines. Now, researchers have just discovered another alarming new development for COVID: patients are being infected with two different strains of the virus at the same time. Read on to find out more about the new study's findings and what it means for the future of the pandemic, and for more concerns about the coronavirus, find out why Moderna's medical director just made this disturbing update. Read the original article on Best Life.

This occurs when Dr. Anthony Fauci warns that some vaccines are less effective against a variant first discovered in South Africa.

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Johnson & Johnson said its vaccine was 66% effective in preventing moderate and severe cases of COVID-19, but was less effective in testing in South Africa, where a specific variant is spreading. Novavax also said that its vaccine was less effective against this variant of the coronavirus.

On Thursday, South Carolina health officials said they had detected two cases involving the South African variant this week.

Other, more highly contagious variants have also been reported in the United States. On Monday, Minnesota health officials said they discovered the first known case of a variant discovered for the first time in Brazil.

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