The news comes as President Joe Biden reinstates the coronavirus travel ban for most non-US citizens from various countries.
The United States has reported its first known case of the COVID-19 variant first discovered in Brazil.
The Minnesota Department of Health confirmed the matter Monday, the same day President Joe Biden expanded coronavirus restrictions, preventing most non-US citizens who have recently traveled to Brazil, South Africa and several European countries from entering the US.
The variant of the novel coronavirus, known as P1, was detected in a specimen from a Minnesota native with a recent travel history to Brazil, the state’s health department said in a statement.
The agency said it is the first documented copy of the P1 variant in the US.
Although the so-called “Brazilian variant” is believed to be more transmissible than the original strain of the virus that causes COVID-19, it is not known whether the disease that causes it is more serious.
Biden has pledged to wage a fierce battle against COVID-19 in the US, where the most cases and coronavirus-related deaths in the world are recorded.
“As the pandemic worsens and more contagious variants spread, now is not the time to lift restrictions on international travel,” White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki said earlier in the day during a newsletter on the renewed travel restrictions.
According to data from Johns Hopkins University, the US has recorded more than 25 million infections – about a quarter of global cases – and more than 420,000 deaths since the start of the pandemic.
The new head of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) warned last weekend that the number of deaths from coronavirus in the US could exceed 500,000 next month.
The CDC and the United States Department of State have also announced that starting Tuesday, all travelers entering the U.S. must show a negative COVID-19 test before boarding. That includes US and foreign nationals.
“The Department and the CDC continue to strongly recommend US citizens to travel abroad and postpone all non-essential travel,” they said in a statement Monday.