WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Americans were again warned on Tuesday not to travel on Christmas as the latest COVID-19 wave left hospitals struggling to find beds for the sick and restricting political leaders to curb new infections, causing concern for grim holidays.
A new, even more contagious variant of the coronavirus, which was rapidly spreading across Britain, caused more fear among Americans who were already tired from the pandemic nine months and sparked talks among top US officials to ban travel from the UK.
The new coronavirus variant has surfaced as the United States grapples with a nationwide spike in infections that added more than a million new cases in just six days, according to a Reuters count, totaling more than 18 million since the pandemic began.
In California, an epicenter of the latest surge, intensive care unit (ICU) beds were scarce, and hospitals said they didn’t have enough doctors and nurses to care for patients.
“The entire capacity of the ICU in California is declining. We all struggle, ”said Dr. Imran Mohammed of Sutter Roseville Medical Center, north of Sacramento. “We really don’t want to see more than this. We will be challenged to see more ICU patients and we will eventually have no place. “
Many US states and cities have imposed lockdowns and business closures to try to get to grips with a wave of illness triggered by last month’s Thanksgiving rallies.
Political leaders have asked Americans to stay at home for the upcoming holidays to prevent health care from overwhelming health care systems, a request many have defied.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said on Tuesday that the modified coronavirus had not yet been detected in the United States.
US Health Secretary Alex Azar told Fox News that the Pfizer / BioNTech and Moderna vaccines, which got US emergency clearances this month, should work against the new variant.
Moderna Inc and BioNTech SE, who have partnered with Pfizer Inc to develop its vaccine, are trying to test their shots against the new virus mutations, but expressed confidence.
“From a scientific point of view, it is very likely that the immune response provided by this vaccine could also target this virus variant,” BioNTech Chief Executive Ugur Sahin told reporters.
MORE THAN 600,000 VACCINATED
According to the CDC, more than 600,000 Americans had received their first COVID-19 vaccine doses as of Monday.
The first wave of shots so far has gone to health workers and nursing home residents, as well as some top government officials.
Americans in “non-essential” jobs have been told they would likely wait months for their turn.
Azar and Dr. Anthony Fauci, the most senior infectious disease official in the US, received Moderna’s recording on live television Tuesday. President-elect Joe Biden was inoculated in front of cameras on Monday with the Pfizer / BioNTech vaccine.
The White House Coronavirus Task Force has no plans to restrict travel from the UK, people briefed on the matter on Tuesday said.
But Michael Osterholm, one of Biden’s pandemic advisers, said all options should be considered, suggesting that the US government could mandate a 14-day quarantine for visitors from the UK.
Washington Governor Jay Inslee has ordered a 14-day quarantine for travelers arriving from the UK, South Africa or other “countries with circulation of a new, potentially more contagious, COVID-19 variant.”
New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said he has asked airlines to add his state to a list of 120 countries that require COVID-19 screening for inbound air travelers.
The United States should say the same as New York. Suppose people have to test before coming from the UK, ”Cuomo said during a Tuesday interview with reporters.
Reporting by Susan Heavey and Lisa Lambert in Washington, Peter Szekely and Gabriella Borter in New York, Anurag Maan in Bengaluru, Nathan Layne in Roseville, California, and Jill Serjeant and Dan Whitcomb in Los Angeles; Written by Gabriella Borter and Dan Whitcomb; Edited by Cynthia Osterman, Matthew Lewis and Bill Berkrot