What you need to know about the UK variant – NBC Boston

The new, more contagious variant of the coronavirus that originated in the UK may already be here in Massachusetts.

California announced the second confirmed case of the mutated strain of COVID-19 in the country on Wednesday. This came 24 hours after the news of the first reported American variant infection, which emerged in Colorado, was announced.

The cases have sparked a host of questions about how the version circulating in England got to the United States and whether it is too late to stop it now, with leading experts saying it was probably already spreading elsewhere in the United States. the country.

Massachusetts and Delaware are also analyzing suspected virus samples for the variant, said Dr Greg Armstrong, who leads gene sequencing at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. He said the CDC was working with a national lab that obtains samples from across the country to expand that research, with results expected in days.

The discovery of the new strain in the United States has heightened the urgency of the national vaccination campaign against COVID-19, which has killed more than 340,000 Americans.

Britain is seeing infections skyrocket and hospitalizations reaching all-time highs. The variant has also been found in several other countries.

Several countries are closing their borders with the UK after the discovery of a new strain of coronavirus that is believed to be much more infectious. Dr Noc, a scientist who has educated TikTok users about the virus, stopped by LX News to answer our questions about what exactly that means.

Scientists have found no evidence that it is more deadly or causes more serious disease, and they believe that the vaccines currently issued will be effective against it. But a faster spreading virus could overwhelm hospitals with critically ill patients.

Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker was asked about the new variety on Wednesday and didn’t seem overly concerned.

“Pfizer and Moderna have stated that they do not believe this variant will have a lesser impact on the ability of their products to perform,” he said. “It’s really not the strength of the new strain, it’s the contagiousness. Obviously, the rules of the game we talked about would generally apply, new contagion or not.”

Health and Human Services Secretary Marylou Sudders added that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is monitoring the situation very closely and providing advice to states.

“It’s very, very contagious, so we’re just assuming that because we know we have community transmission in Massachusetts, we need everyone to commit to these good public health measures that we know are working. “she said.

Colorado Governor Jared Polis provided more details on Wednesday about the first person in the United States to test positive for the highly contagious coronavirus variant first identified in the UK. Politics have warned that s’ this was the first case confirmed by a laboratory test, there were probably previous cases. in the United States that had not been identified.

Even before its discovery in Colorado and California, experts told NBC10 Boston last week that the new strain of COVID was likely already in the United States.

“I can’t imagine that wouldn’t be the case,” said Dr. Shira Doron, hospital epidemiologist at Tufts Medical Center. “Would I expect to see this gap in the United States? Sure. People travel all the time. I would expect to see this.”

As for the potential impact now that it’s here? Medical experts said it was too early to know.

“The implications of how quickly it is spreading compared to what’s going to happen here in the United States – it’s really too early to tell,” said Dr Paul Sax, clinical director of the division of infectious diseases at Brigham and Women’s Hospital. “This is something we need to watch closely and let virologists do their proper research.”