The British variant of the coronavirus is spreading rapidly in the United States, with cases doubling every 10 days.

We already knew that the highly contagious variant of the coronavirus first detected in the UK was making its way through the US. Now, a new pre-print study is showing how fast it is spreading, as data shows its prevalence among all COVID-19 cases is doubling about every 10 days.

According to calculations from the study, which has not yet been peer reviewed, the UK variant, known as B.1.1.7, could become the dominant strain in the United States. by March. This estimate confirms an earlier forecast from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released last month. “Our study shows that the United States is on a similar trajectory to other countries where B.1.1.7 has rapidly become the dominant variant of SARS-CoV-2, requiring immediate and decisive action to minimize morbidity and mortality from covid-19, ”write the authors of the new study.

The study, which was posted on the MedRxiv pre-print server, concludes that this new COVID-19 variant is approximately 35-45% more transmissible than other strains currently found in the United States. This is in line with previous estimates, although the researchers said the number could be even higher. “He’s here, he’s deeply rooted in this country, and he’s on the way to becoming the dominant lineage very quickly,” said Michael Worobey, evolutionary biologist at the University of Arizona and co-author of the new paper. .

The new variant is spreading particularly quickly in Florida, which has the highest number of cases involving B.1.1.7, followed by California. Kristian Andersen, an immunologist at the Scripps Research Institute and co-author of the new study, said last week the percentage of infections in Florida involving the new variant may have risen from less than 5% to around 10%. Experts say this dynamic could be due to how Florida has not been strict on mask warrants and other restrictions put in place to slow the spread of the coronavirus.

The first data could be a warning sign for governments about the problems to come, especially since several countries have recently seen outbreaks of infections linked to this new variant. “A very serious situation could indeed develop in a matter of months or weeks,” Nicholas Davies, an epidemiologist at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine who was not involved in the study, told The New York Times. “These may be early signals that warrant urgent investigation by public health authorities.”