The new, more contagious variant of the coronavirus from the United Kingdom could already be here in Massachusetts.
California on Wednesday announced the nation’s second confirmed case of the mutant strain of COVID-19. It came 24 hours after learning of the first infection reported in the US, which occurred in Colorado.
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The cases have raised a number of questions about how the version circulating in England has reached the US and whether it is too late to stop it now, with top experts saying it is probably already spreading to another part of the country.
Massachusetts and Delaware are also analyzing suspicious virus samples for the variant, said Dr. Greg Armstrong, who directs genetic sequencing at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. He said the CDC is working with a national laboratory that is obtaining samples from across the country to expand the search, with expected results in a few days.
The discovery of the new strain in the United States added urgency to the national vaccination effort against COVID-19, which killed more than 340,000 Americans.
The UK is seeing infections rise and hospitalizations are rising to the highest levels. The variant has been found in several other countries.
Several countries are closing their borders with the UK after a new strain of coronavirus was discovered that is thought to be much more infectious. Dr. Noc, a scientist who educated TikTok users about the virus, was stopped by LX News to answer our questions about what exactly this means.
Scientists have found no evidence that it is more lethal or causes more severe disease, and they believe the vaccines now being released will be effective against it. But a faster-spreading virus could multiply hospitals with seriously ill patients.
On Wednesday, Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker was asked about the new strain and didn’t seem too worried.
“Both Pfizer and Moderna said they don’t think this variant would have a lesser impact on their products’ ability to function,” he said. “It’s really the main issue, it’s not the strength of the new strain, it’s the contagiousness. Obviously, the rules of the game we talked about would generally apply to new contagion or not.”
Secretary for Health and Human Services Marylou Sudders added that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is closely monitoring the situation and providing guidance to states.
“It’s extremely contagious, so we assume that because we know we have community broadcasts in Massachusetts, we need everyone to engage in those good public health measures that we know are effective,” she said.
Colorado Gov. Jared Polis on Wednesday provided more details about the first person in the United States to test positive for the highly contagious coronavirus variant first identified in the UK. in the US who had not been identified.
Even before it was discovered in Colorado and California, experts told NBC10 Boston last week that the new COVID strain was probably already in the United States.
“I can’t imagine it wouldn’t be,” said Dr. Shira Doron, a hospital epidemiologist at Tufts Medical Center. “I would expect to see this variation in the US? Of course. People travel all the time. I would expect to see that.”
In terms of the potential impact now that he’s here? Medical experts said it was too early to know.
“The implications for how easily it spreads over what’s going to happen here in the United States – it’s too early to tell,” said Dr. Paul Sax, clinical director of the infectious diseases division at Brigham and Women’s Hospital. “It’s something we need to follow closely and let virologists do their proper research.”