The United States has reported at least 618 cases of COVID-19 variants in the United Kingdom, Brazil and South Africa in 33 states, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Of that total, 611 are the most contagious variant in the UK known as B.1.1.7, of which there were 187 cases in Florida and 145 in California, the CDC said in an update Thursday.
There are five cases of variant B.1.351, which was first detected in South Africa. Three of them are in Maryland and two are in South Carolina.
Meanwhile, two cases of strain P.1 in Brazil have been identified in Minnesota, according to the CDC.
The 618 cases, which are based on a sample of positive specimens, “do not represent the total number of B.1.1.7, B.1.351 and P.1 offspring cases that may circulate in the United States and may not match reported numbers. of states, territories, tribes and local officials, “the agency said.