Alert in the United States: they detect the first infection with a variant of the coronavirus

The first person in the United States known to be infected with a new, apparently more contagious variant of the coronavirus was identified on Wednesday as a member of the Colorado National Guard who had been dispatched to assist at a nursing home where she was fighting. against an epidemic. Health officials have said that a second member of the Guard may also have the new variant.

The cases have sparked a slew of questions about how the mutant version circulating in England got to the United States and if it is too late to stop it now. Leading experts say it is probably already spreading to other parts of the country. The discovery also added urgency to the country’s vaccination campaign.

The two members of the guard were sent on Dec. 23 to work at the Good Samaritan Society nursing home in the small town of Simla, a predominantly rural area about 90 miles from Denver, the doctor said. Rachel Herlihy, the state’s senior epidemiologist. They were among the six members of the guard sent to this retirement home.

A state lab began looking for signs of the variant after it was announced that it was spreading in England earlier this month, Herlihy said. Samples from nursing home staff and residents who have tested positive for the coronavirus are currently being tested for the variant, and no evidence of this has been found so far, he said.

The confirmed Colorado case is a man in his 20s who has not traveled, raising questions about how he became infected and adding urgency to vaccination campaigns. The man is showing mild symptoms, is isolated and on the mend, state officials said on Tuesday. The other person suspected of having the variant is in isolation at a Colorado hotel, Herlihy said.

No one immediately responded to calls from the retirement home for comment.

The mutated version was first identified in Britain, where Covid-19 infections are on the rise, even surpassing the first peak seen in the spring. The variant has also been found in other countries.

British scientists have found no evidence that this variant is more deadly or causes more serious illness and they believe that the vaccines given now will be effective against it. Even so, authorities attributed it to the increase in hospitalizations.

The discovery of the variant prompted U.S. medical authorities to require travelers arriving from Britain to submit a negative COVID-19 test.

The variant is probably still rare in the United States, but the lack of travel history in the first case means it is spreading, possibly sown by British visitors in November or December, said scientist Trevor Bedford, who studies the propagation. of Covid-19 at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle.

“Now I’m afraid there will be another wave in the spring due to the variance,” Bedford said.

New versions of the virus have been seen almost since it was first detected in China a year ago. It is common for viruses to undergo minor changes as they reproduce and travel through a population. The fear is that the mutations will become strong enough to become immune to the vaccines.