Florida has become America’s new ‘super-COVID’ hotspot, leading the country in known cases.
At least 46 cases of the highly contagious variant first identified in the UK have been found in the Sunshine State, more than double the original number of 22.
This happened just 20 days after the first case was identified on New Year’s Eve.
The new strain, B 1.1.7., Is feared to be up to 70 percent more transmissible and more easily spread among children.
It comes the same day that 13 cases were identified by a North Carolina lab, which has not reported any cases of the variant today.
This means that nearly 150 Americans have been infected with the species since the first case was identified late last year.
Recently, University of Arizona researchers say it was perhaps six weeks earlier than expected in the US.
The team says the variant was possible behind a cluster of cases in California dating back to Nov. 6 and another of them took place in Florida on November 23.
Additionally, a recent report from the World Health Organization (WHO) revealed that 60 provinces around the world are now reporting cases of the variant.
At least 146 Americans in 21 states are infected with the highly contagious variant of coronavirus first discovered in the UK
A new WHO report found that B 1.1.7. has been discovered in 60 countries (yellow and stripes), 10 more countries than seven days ago
There are currently 146 cases in 21 US states, according to DailyMail.com’s analysis of federal and state data.
This includes at least 46 cases in Florida; 40 in California; 13 in North Carolina; six in Colorado; five in Minnesota; four each in Indiana and New York; two each in Connecticut, Maryland and Texas; and one each in Georgia, Illinois, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Mexico, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Utah, Wisconsin, and Wyoming.
The North Carolina cases are the most recent identified by MAKO Medical Laboratories, which has two locations in Henderson and the third in Raleigh.
“Our findings show that the mutation is starting to make its way into the United States,” said Steve Hoover, vice president of Laboratory Operations at MAKO Medical.
“We are in constant contact with public health leaders to keep them informed and informed.”
Florida, however, leads the nation in business at 46.
Dr. Marco Salemi, a professor at the University of Florida and a molecular biologist, said the Miami Herald is calling on the state and federal government to expand surveillance of the new variant.
“We know it’s in Florida,” he said.
What percentage [of cases] is impossible to say. The genomes we have were likely collected before or at the beginning of the release of [the variant] to Florida. ‘
The Florida Department of Health has only sequenced about 3,000 samples to date.
Last week, the CDC released a report predicting that the new variety will become the predominant species by March 2021.
This prompted President Joe Biden to ask for more funding for efforts to genetically sequence the virus at the federal level.
Meanwhile in its weekly Updating released on Tuesday, WHO announced that B 1.1.7. is now in 10 countries more than seven days ago.
Provinces outside the UK to report cases of the variant include Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Spain, and the US.
The WHO report also named close relatives of the variant first identified in South Africa and Brazil.
The South African variant has now been identified in 23 countries, three more than 10 days ago.
The species first emerged in the south east of England in October in the county of Kent and is quickly becoming the dominant species in Great Britain.
It triggered a massive spike in infections with one in 30 Londoners infected with it and plunged the country into a third lockdown.
In a recent statement, said Dr. Ashish K Jha, Dean of the Brown University School of Public Health Aggressive action is urgently needed to limit the spread of new diseases, as several health care systems face serious shortages of beds and resources.
This new, more contagious variant will change the underlying dynamics of the pandemic, with an exponential growth of infections making the virus much more difficult to control and straining our stressed healthcare system.
“The US health care system is already teetering under the brunt of the pandemic caused by the current (old) strain,” he wrote.
Perhaps most importantly, Jha says nationwide vaccination efforts need to be stepped up
Gigi Gronvall, an immunologist and senior scholar at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security, agreed.
“I don’t think anyone thinks this variant is the reason we’ve had such awful numbers in the US, but this isn’t a good indicator if you look at whether it could potentially be worse,” she told the Miami. Herald.
“So we need to get vaccines in arms as soon as possible.
