The variant, known as B.1.1.7, “is now the most common strain of the virus in the United States,” Dr. Rochelle Walensky, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), said at a White House briefing, according to CNBC. ” Walensky said, “Testing remains an important strategy for the rapid identification and isolation of infectious individuals, including those with the variant of virus of concern.”
Last fall, the B.1.1.7 variant strain, which appears to be more deadly and more easily transmitted than other viruses, was discovered in the United Kingdom. Since then, the mutant strain has spread to other parts of the world, including the United States, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. As of Tuesday (April 6), 16,275 confirmed cases of the type of virus infection had been identified in 52 jurisdictions in the United States.
According to the CDC, Florida has the most confirmed cases of the type of virus infection, followed by Michigan, Wisconsin, California and Colorado. Public health officials said they are working to identify more cases of infection as soon as possible.
Last week, Walensky revealed that the B.1.1.7 variant strain is beginning to become the leading strain of infection in many areas of the United States, accounting for 26 percent of Covid-19 (CCA virus) infections spreading nationwide. She urged the public to continue taking outbreak safety measures such as hand washing, wearing masks and maintaining social distance.
Varensky said last week, “This is a critical time in our fight against the outbreak. We cannot let our guard down.”
The current number of Covid-19 infections is well below the peak level in January, but slightly above the recent low in late March. The average daily number of new cases in the last seven days was 64,700, a level similar to that seen in the U.S. during the peak of the summer outbreak, according to Johns Hopkins University.
While the pace of vaccination has accelerated, highly contagious mutant strains of the virus are also spreading rapidly and could prevent the entire country from recovering from the outbreak.
Valensky said on Wednesday that the U.S. must accelerate vaccination efforts. As of Monday (April 5), the U.S. was averaging about 3.1 million doses of vaccine per day. On Tuesday (April 6), President Biden announced that states should open appointments for all U.S. adults to be vaccinated against Covid-19 (the Chinese Communist virus) by April 19. This moved up the deadline he had initially set by nearly two weeks.
Valensky said, “We must vaccinate as many Americans as possible every day.” This will reduce the number of new infections and deaths, he added.
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