Dr. Anthony Fauci said the new highly contagious strain of COVID-19 is likely to be more widespread across the country than is currently known.
The director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases said he would be “very surprised” if the new variant, which first appeared in the UK, had not already reached “a few more states”.
“I think it’s pretty clear that if it’s in places like California, New York and Colorado … it will be in a few other states soon enough,” Fauci told Newsweek on Tuesday.
The new variant – which has been confirmed in at least five states – is believed to be about 70% more contagious than other strains.
“It simply came to our notice then. Because if you have a higher transmissibility, you will get more cases “, said Fauci.
“When you get more cases, you get more hospitalizations. And when you get more hospitalizations, you end up with more deaths. “
But Fauci said he did not believe the new strain was the determinant of more recent growth in cases across the country.
“It simply came to our notice then [variant] has been responsible for the rather substantial increase in cases in the United States, because the UK version is here, but it is not the dominant strain in the United States, ”said Fauci.