Fast-spreading British coronavirus variant could be dominant in the United States by March, CDC says

CHICAGO (Reuters) – A new, highly transmissible variant of the coronavirus first discovered in Britain could become the dominant variant in the United States by March, the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention warned on Friday.

The variant, known as B.1.1.7, is believed to be twice as contagious as the current version of the virus circulating in the United States. So far, 76 people in 10 US states have been infected with the UK variant.

Its rapid spread will increase the burden on healthcare resources at a time of increasing infections, further undermining strained healthcare resources and increasing the need for better adherence to mitigation strategies, such as social distancing and wearing masks, the CDC said in its weekly Death and Illness report.

The highly contagious variant also increases the percentage of the population that must be vaccinated to achieve protective herd immunity to control the pandemic, the CDC said.

“The increased transmissibility of variant B.1.1.7 justifies rigorous implementation of public health strategies to reduce transmission and mitigate the potential impact of B.1.1.7, saving critical time to increase vaccination coverage, ”wrote US health officials.

The variant, which includes several genetic changes, makes the virus more capable of being passed from person to person. The changes aren’t thought to cause more serious illness, but the higher transmission rate will mean more cases and more deaths, the CDC said.