Dr. Anthony Fauci, the U.S. government’s leading infectious disease specialist, warned this week that the most contagious variant of Chinese coronavirus first identified in the UK and now found in more than half the U.S. could be more deadly than was thought, echoing the recent discoveries of British scientists.
Last weekend, the United States’ Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) revealed that it reviewed data compiled by British scientists who suggest that the UK variant may be more deadly than initially believed.
While informing reporters on Wednesday, Fauci mentioned “the increase in transmissibility and the likelihood of an increase in some lethality in B117,” the official name of the UK strain.
Other, more contagious variants are circulating in the United States, including those first discovered in Brazil, South Africa and even California.
However, the UK strain is currently the most prevalent in America.
“The projection for this UK is that probably in late March, early April, it will actually become more dominant in this country,” Fauci told reporters on Friday.
“I believe that we should treat each case as if it were a variant during this pandemic now,” added Dr. Rochelle Walensky, director of the CDC.
The World Health Organization (WHO) and the CDC recognized that, even if the UK strain is no longer lethal as originally thought, an increase in infections will overwhelm health resources, leading to more hospitalizations and potentially more deaths.
According to the CDC, there is currently no evidence to suggest that variants affect vaccine efficacy.
However, Dr. Fauci noted on Friday that, as the virus continues to mutate, the United States “will have to be agile to readily adjust to make versions of the vaccine that are actually specifically targeted to any mutation. that is really prevalent at any given time. “
Until January 22, CDC and WHO officials maintained that there was no evidence that the British variant caused a more serious illness or increased the risk of death, only that it spread faster than other versions.
Citing the scientists who advised his government, PM Johnson admitted on January 22 that the UK variant discovered may be more lethal.
The PM stated in an address on television:
We were told today that, in addition to spreading faster, it now also appears that there is some evidence that the new variant – the one that was first identified in London and the South East – may be associated with a higher degree of mortality. All current evidence continues to show that both vaccines that we currently use remain effective against the old variant and this new variant.
During the televised speech, Patrick Vallance, the UK government’s leading scientific adviser, warned that data on lethality associated with the variant remained “highly uncertain,” Wall Street Journal annotated, adding:
Interned [coronavirus] there seemed to be no increase in mortality. But among the general population, deaths were higher among those who had the new variant, he said.
Of every thousand people aged 60 with the new variant, around 13 to 14 are expected to die, compared with about 10 deaths per thousand with the old variant, according to Vallance.
Based on these figures, the UK strain can increase the risk of fatality by 30-40 percent.
UK government scientists have also predicted that the new strain will spread 30 to 70 percent faster than previous versions.
Michael Osterholm, an epidemiologist and a member of President Joe Biden’s coronavirus transition team, said that after reviewing UK data and other data that has not been publicly released, he is “convinced” that the new variant is more deadly, reported CNN.
Osterholm is the director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy at the University of Minnesota.
The British variant resulted in an increase in infections across the UK and appears to be spreading rapidly across the United States
CDC officials detected 52 cases of the UK variant in just five U.S. states as of January 7, Breitbart News noted.
Moving forward about three weeks (through Friday), the CDC identified 434 cases in 30 states, marking an almost eight-fold increase in infections and a six-fold increase in states, respectively.
Florida (125) and California (113) and are home to the highest concentration of strain infections in the UK, followed by New York (22). In the vast majority of the remaining states, the number of new variant cases remains in the single digits.
The Brazilian strain has only been detected in Minnesota until now. South Carolina recorded two cases of the South African variant, the only ones in the country.
CDC officials believe that many more cases of new strains are going unnoticed in the U.S.
As the variants consolidate, several states, including California and New York, are easing restrictions.