The Covid White House task force is warning of a possible new ‘American variant’ that is spreading

The White House coronavirus task force said there could be a new variant of the virus that has evolved in the US and is driving its spread, according to a document obtained by NBC News.

The new variant, alongside the UK variant, is already spreading in communities and may be 50% more transferable, according to the report released to states on Jan. 3.

The task force said the recent spike in cases is nearly twice that of the spring and summer seasons, according to the report. The US records at least 228,400 new Covid-19 cases and at least 2,760 virus-related deaths every day, based on a seven-day average calculated by CNBC based on data from Johns Hopkins University. The US reported its deadliest day with more than 4,000 dead on Thursday.

“This acceleration suggests that there may be a US variant that has evolved here, in addition to the UK variant that is already spreading in our communities and may be 50% more transferable,” the report said. “Aggressive mitigation should be used to match a more aggressive virus; without uniform implementation of effective face masking (two- or three-layer and well-fitting) and strict social distance, epidemics can rapidly worsen as these variants spread and become predominant.”

Representatives from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Department of Health and Human Services did not immediately respond to CNBC’s requests for comment.

Few details were given about the new American species in the report, including how long it has been in circulation. In recent weeks, the US has ramped up their genomic sequences to try to detect other species.

Public health officials were already concerned about the arrival of a new strain of the virus found in the UK known as B.1.1.7.

The CDC has identified at least 52 Covid-19 cases with the B.1.1.7 mutation in the US, according to data posted on the agency’s website last updated Thursday. However, the CDC warns that their number “does not represent the total number of B.1.1.7 lineage cases circulating in the United States” and may not match the numbers reported by local officials.

So far, the CDC only shows California, Florida, New York, Colorado and Georgia with cases of the B.1.1.7 variant, but other states such as Connecticut, Pennsylvania and Texas announced the arrival of the species in their states on Thursday .

Michael Osterholm, a member of President-elect Joe Biden’s Covid-19 advisory board, said on Tuesday that the US is likely to see more new variants of the virus emerge.

Osterholm, an epidemiologist and director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy at the University of Minnesota, said in an interview with CNBC that the strain discovered in the UK is “a major concern.”

“And it is the first of what will likely be some of these species that are emerging now that we are at this point of the pandemic,” he added.

This is a story in progress. Please check again for updates.