Credit CDC
#15,704
Two weeks ago we saw the Colorado Governor's Statement On The 1st Detection Of The COVID B.1.1.7 Variant In U.S., which was quickly followed by announcements from California, Florida, New York, and Georgia.
Yesterday the CDC updated their interactive map, indicating that 10 states have now verified a total of 72 B.1.1.7 variant infections. California leads with 32 cases, followed by Florida with 22.These reports are undoubtedly major undercounts, as genomic sequencing is only done for about 1 in every 330 positive cases in the United States right now. Meaning the real number likely already runs into the thousands.
*The cases identified above are based on a sampling of SARS-CoV-2-positive specimens and do not represent the total number of B.1.1.7 lineage cases that may be circulating in the United States and may not match numbers reported by states, territories, tribes, and local officials.
†Numbers will be updated on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday by 7:00 pm.
Although widely believed to be more transmissible than the current dominant COVID variant, there remain many open questions regarding this variant's other characteristics.
From the CDC's New COVID-19 Variants webpage:
What we do not know
Scientists are working to learn more about these variants, and more studies are needed to understand:
- How widely these new variants have spread
- How the new variants differ
- How the disease caused by these new variants differs from the disease caused by other variants that are currently circulating
What it means
Public health officials are studying these variants quickly to learn more to control their spread. They want to understand whether the variants:
- Spread more easily from person to person
- Cause milder or more severe disease in people
- Are detected by currently available viral tests
- Respond to medicines currently being used to treat people for COVID-19
- Change the effectiveness of COVID-19 vaccines. There is no evidence that this is occurring, and most experts believe this is unlikely to occur because of the nature of the immune response to the virus.
