Dr. Anthony Fauci said it is likely that the highly contagious new species COVID-19 is already more widespread across the country than is currently known.
The director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases said he would be “very surprised” if the new variant that first appeared in the UK has not yet reached “multiple states”.
“I think it’s pretty clear that if it’s in places like California, and New York and Colorado … it will be in multiple states soon,” Fauci told Newsweek on Tuesday.
The new variant – which has been confirmed in at least five states – is believed to be about 70 percent more contagious than other species.
“We take that very seriously. Because if you have greater portability, you will get more cases, ”Fauci said.
“If you get more cases, you get more hospital admissions. And if you get more hospitalizations, you end up with more deaths. “
But Fauci said he doesn’t believe the new species has been the driving factor behind more recent spikes in cases across the country.
“I don’t think the British mutation [variant] is responsible for the fairly significant increase in the number of cases in the United States, because the British variety is here, but it is not the dominant species in the United States, ”said Fauci.