UK variant likely to drive new wave of US transmission in spring, experts say
From CNN s Maggie Fox
A new, more contagious variant of coronavirus first seen in the UK is likely to fuel a surge of cases in the US in spring, several experts predicted Tuesday. They say the best way to get out ahead of it is to vaccinate as many people as possible.
The variant called B.1.1.7 was suspected of causing renewed spread in Britain and it’s been seen across much of the US – more than 1,880 cases in 45 states, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. But those are only the cases detected by sequencing, which falls short in the US, said virus expert Trevor Bedford of the University of Washington and the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center.
It was only a matter of time, but after a couple of weeks in which the more-infectious strain of COVID-19 first detected in the U.K. was found in Southern California, it has been found in six people in the Bay Area.