SARS-CoV2 Variants of Concern - ECDC
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The CDC is making changes once again to how they report on COVID variants detected within the United States, moving their reporting from a Monday-Wednesday-Friday evening schedule to (starting last night) a Sunday-Tuesday-Thursday release schedule.
In this most recent reporting period - truncated to 48 hours - the CDC was notified of 34 new cases.
Over the past 6 days we've seen an increase of 174 B.1.1.7 (aka `UK') variants, the first detection of the Brazilian P.1. variant (in Minnesota), and three detections of the B.1.351 (aka `South African') variant across two states (2 in South Carolina, 1 in Maryland).
Genomic testing, which is needed to identify variants, remains relatively rare in the United States (about 1 in every 300 cases), meaning that we are likely missing the vast majority of variant cases in the community. As testing ramps up, so should the numbers.
Despite the deceptively low numbers reported over the past 5 weeks, modelers at the CDC estimate the B.1.1.7 variant could become dominant here by March (see MMWR: Emergence Of SARS-CoV-2 B.1.1.7 Lineage — United States, Dec 29, 2020–Jan 12, 2021).
In this latest report, Florida has once again jumped ahead of California, and leads the nation in B.1.1.7 cases. For now, at least, California's homegrown variant CAL.20C is not not being reported by the CDC see (see PrePrint: Emergence of a novel SARS-CoV-2 strain (CAL.20C) in Southern California, USA).
The emerging variants CDC is closely monitoring have mutations in the virus genome that alter the characteristics and cause the virus to act differently in ways that are significant to public health (e.g., causes more severe disease, spreads more easily between humans, requires different treatments, changes the effectiveness of current vaccines). It’s important to understand that genetic mutations are expected, and some variants can spread and become predominant while others subside.
*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, B.1.351, and P.1 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 Sunday, Tuesday, and Thursday by 7:00 pm.
