Rochelle Walensky, director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), said the B.1.1.7 variant strain of New Coronavirus, first discovered in the United Kingdom, has become the most prevalent strain of New Coronavirus in the U.S. The rise in cases of New Coronavirus pneumonia across the U.S. over the past four weeks, the spread of the U.K. variant strain is the culprit.
Studies have shown that the British variant of New Coronavirus is more contagious than the original strain and has a higher risk of death. Confirmed cases of the British variant of the New Coronavirus have now been identified in all 50 U.S. states, with a total of 16,275 cases, Varensky said Wednesday in a White House epidemic prevention team briefing. Evidence of the spread of the British variant strain was evident in March, but the CDC did not acknowledge the British variant strain as mainstream at the time, saying only that it would become clear in a few weeks, Varensky said.
According to Johns Hopkins University, as of April 9, at least 31.44 million people in the U.S. have been diagnosed with the new coronavirus and 568,000 have died. For most of the past four weeks, the number of new cases in the United States has been rising every day.
Valensky said, “These trends show two clear facts: first, the virus is still affecting people’s lives and we need to remain vigilant; and second, we need to continue to accelerate vaccination efforts and individuals should take responsibility to get vaccinated when it’s their turn.”
He said the CDC is stepping up surveillance and viral genome sequencing efforts to track variant viruses.
CDC data show that 19.4 percent of the nation has completed vaccination, with an average of 3 million doses per day over the past week, and if this rate is maintained, 75 percent of the nation is expected to be vaccinated by June 26.
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