As single-day confirmations in the United States reach a new high, official information released today by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) shows that the more infectious variant of the virus, B117, has now spread to at least eight U.S. states.
The variant of B117 that emerged in the United Kingdom late last year is 40 to 70 percent more contagious than the previously spreading variant.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, B117, which first appeared in the United States last week, has been detected in eight states, including California and Florida, where the outbreak is most severe.
The variant has also been found in Colorado, Texas, New York, Georgia, Connecticut and Pennsylvania, for a total of 63 cases.
Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), told Newsweek on June 6 that the variant is “more widespread in the U.S. than what we’ve found so far,” he said.
I’m pretty sure that the variant is here, we just haven’t found it yet,” he said. I think it’s clear that if it’s in states like California, New York and Colorado…it’s going to be in more states soon.”
The discovery of variant B117 in the United Kingdom and the emergence of variant B1351 in South Africa have raised concerns that a similar new variant of the virus could emerge in the United States.
But U.S. officials today denied reports that a U.S. variant of the virus has emerged.
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