The estimates are anywhere from 50% to 70% more likely to transmit, explains Dr. Alex Garza with the St. Louis Metropolitan Pandemic Task Force.
Agreeing with Dr. Garza, Dr. J. William Campbell the Chief of Infectious Diseases at St. Luke s Hospital says, As far as we can tell, the variant does not put a person at risk for more serious disease, but what the variant does is that it spreads more easily, so you are more apt to catch it from somebody else.
The CDC is tracking COVID-19 cases caused by variants. To date, both Illinois and Missouri have not found a mutation of the virus in samples sent to state laboratories or the CDC.