‘We need to assume now’ that the British virus strain can ‘do more damage’

‘We need to assume now’ that the British virus strain can ‘do more damage’

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Anthony Fauci, the country’s leading infectious disease specialist, said recent data reported by the British government suggests that a new, more virulent strain of coronavirus is also more deadly, but that American officials need to examine the numbers themselves.



Anthony S. Fauci in suit and tie: Fauci: 'We need to assume now' that the British strain of the virus can 'cause more damage'


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Fauci: ‘We need to assume now’ that the British virus strain can ‘do more damage’

Asked by Margaret Brennan of CBS about her previous allegations that the strain, while more infectious, apparently was no longer deadly, Fauci said: “The data that came out was after they said all along that it didn’t seem to be more deadly, so that’s when we got that information. “

“When British researchers took a closer look at the death rate for a particular age group, they found it was one in a thousand … and then it went up to 1.3 per thousand in a given group,” added Fauci. “It’s a significant increase. So the latest data is in line with what the British are saying. We want to examine the data ourselves, but we have every reason to believe it. They are a very competent group.”

Fauci went on to say that Americans “must now assume that what has been circulating predominantly in the UK has a certain increase in what we call virulence, that is, the virus’s power to do more damage, including death.”

Fauci separately addressed another strain that is believed to have originated in South Africa, saying that “in some cases [the strain] decreases the effectiveness of the vaccine “, but that the vaccine was still generally effective.

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