New Jersey has recorded its first death from the highly contagious British variant of COVID-19.
The unidentified resident succumbed to the virus on Wednesday, state health commissioner Judith Persichilli confirmed at a press conference.
The victim had ‘significant underlying health problems’ but had no international travel history. Their age was not released.
The UK variant of the coronavirus, known as B 1.1.7 and called ‘Super-COVID’, is feared to be up to 70 percent more transmissible than the common coronavirus strain.
On Wednesday, six new cases of the Super-COVID were confirmed in New Jersey, with the ages of those who tested positive ranging from 10 to 65. Only one has recently traveled abroad. The New Jersey health department did not disclose which country the person had traveled to.
There are now at least 329 confirmed cases of Super-COVID in the United States, including at least 92 in California and Florida, respectively.
It was initially feared that the mutation was more contagious than the common COVID-19 infection. However, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said last week that it is now feared that it could also be 30 percent more deadly.
Dr. Anthony Fauci echoed the same sentiment last Wednesday when he told NBC’s Today show, “I believe the severity of the actual infection is increasing to some extent, which we really need to keep an eye on.”
Earlier this month, a 40-year-old woman in Texas died of the Super-COVID strain just days after she was hospitalized.
New Jersey has recorded its first death from the highly contagious British variant of COVID-19. In the photo, a patient is being treated for the disease at a hospital in New Jersey earlier this month
New York has confirmed at least 22 cases of the variant, with Governor Andrew Cuomo expressing his frustration that more is not yet known about the deadly that it is.
Super-COVID is one of several new strains of the coronavirus discovered in recent weeks.
At least two American homegrown variants have been confirmed in Ohio, while another has been discovered in Illinois.
Another mutation first discovered in Brazil, known as E484K, has also been discovered on the US coast. Additionally, a variant known as 1452R, first seen in Denmark, is said to account for up to 50 percent of California cases.
On Thursday, a highly contagious strain from South Africa was first confirmed in the United States.
Two people in South Carolina tested positive for the mutation – known as B. 1,351 varian – despite not having traveled outside the country. This has raised concerns that the species is already spreading widely in the community.
“We don’t know exactly what’s going on with the new species,” Governor Cuomo said at a briefing Wednesday.
“The concept of not knowing really worries me.”
A drive-thru coronavirus test site is on display in Paramus, New Jersey. Six additional cases of Super-COVID were confirmed in the Garden State on Wednesday
It is currently believed that COVID-19 vaccines produced by Pfizer and Morderna will still be effective against the US-confirmed mutations in the short term.
Scientists are now busy inventing booster shots, fearing that mutations could ultimately reduce the ability of vaccine-induced antibodies to castrate the coronavirus.
President Biden has temporarily banned flights from South Africa and has re-imposed restrictions on those entering the US from the UK after Donald Trump vowed to lift them during his last term.
“ I have determined that it is in the interest of the United States to take measures to prevent entry into the United States, as immigrants or were present in the United States, to limit and suspend. Schengen Area (of Europe), the United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland, the Federative Republic of Brazil and the Republic of South Africa for the 14-day period prior to their entry or attempted entry into the United States, ” said Biden.
In a separate executive order, Biden stated that travelers from all other countries arriving in the U.S. ‘must be required to provide proof of a recent negative COVID-19 test prior to entry’ and are ‘required to comply with other applicable CDC guidelines, including recommended periods of self-quarantine or post-entry self-isolation ‘.
Meanwhile, the CDC is now ‘actively looking at’ new measures for Americans flying between states as the number of coronavirus cases remains stubbornly high.
A new proposal states that travelers must pass a negative COVID-19 test before boarding planes flying domestically.
It’s because the rollout of vaccines in the country is lagging.
Vaccinations started five weeks ago, but only 6.2 percent of the U.S. population has received the first doses of Pfizers or Moderna’s two-dose vaccines. That’s about 20.7 million who have received at least one dose of the vaccine.
About 3.8 million people are fully vaccinated, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
Friday, 25.5 million Americans tested positive for COVID-19 and more than 429,000 died.
President Biden predicts the death toll will be more than half a million deaths next month.
Earlier on Wednesday, drivers were waiting in line at the mega COVID-19 vaccination site set up in the parking lot of Dodger Stadium
