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Photographer: David Paul Morris / Bloomberg
Photographer: David Paul Morris / Bloomberg
The Covid-19 variant that has emerged in the UK and which has raised concerns about faster spread could become dominant in the US as early as March, government public health researchers said in a report.
Several data sources indicate that the strain spreads faster than other versions, and measures should be taken to reduce its transmission, including increased genomic surveillance and adherence to public health measures such as testing and wearing of masks, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said. Friday in the report.
“The increased transmission of SARS-CoV-2 could threaten depleted health care resources, require prolonged and more rigorous implementation of public health strategies and increase the percentage of population immunity needed to fight against the pandemic, ”the report said.
The variant, called B.1.1.7, has already been spotted in the United States, with around 76 confirmed cases in the country to date, according to the CDC. The agency’s projection was based on modeling that showed rapid growth of the variant at the start of this year, which could further hamper the deployment of Covid-19 vaccines which has been marked by missed deadlines and underutilization. furniture.
The variant currently represents less than about 0.5% of circulating viruses, the agency estimated in the report, although the exact prevalence of B.1.1.7 in the United States is not currently known.
Lockdown in UK
British health officials have attributed a recent increase in cases to the ability of the variant to spread and have imposed strict lockdown measures. British Chief Medical Officer Chris Whitty has warned that while he expects “things to improve in the spring”, the variant could make reopening the economy more difficult.
The variant “has the potential to increase the trajectory of the US pandemic in the coming months,” the report said.
Viruses mutate frequently and variants are to be expected, but new variants could potentially take on forms that would escape current testing and treatment for Covid-19. The B.1.1.7 variant is one of many that have been detected around the world, although neither a variant known as B.1.351 found in South Africa nor another variant called B.1.1.28 n ‘was found in the United States from mid-January, the CDC says.
The high contagiousness of variant B.1.1.7 requires an even more rigorous application of public health measures such as vaccination, distancing, masking and hand washing to control the spread, the CDC said. These public health measures should be taken “as soon as possible” to stem its spread, and the health system should be prepared for further surges in the event of a case, the regulator said.
“Increased transmissibility also means that higher than expected vaccine coverage must be achieved to achieve the same level of disease control to protect the public from less transmissible variants,” the report said.
The CDC also said it is working with partners in academia, industry and at the national and local levels to sequence the genomes of the virus, which can detect the emergence of new strains.
(Updates with report details and UK spread from fourth paragraph)
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