The White House Coronavirus
The Task Force has warned of a possibility that one could be more transferable COVID-19 variant that evolved in the US.
The new species, in addition to the variant found in Britain, is already spreading in communities and may be 50 percent more transmissible, according to a report obtained by US media the task force released to states on Jan. 3.
The task force said the recent spike is almost twice as high in cases as in the spring and summer seasons, Xinhua news agency quoted the report.
“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 percent more transferable,” said the report, calling for aggressive mitigation a much more aggressive virus.
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“Without uniform implementation of effective face masking (two- or three-layer and well-fitting) and strict social spacing, epidemics could rapidly worsen as these variants spread and become predominant,” it added.
Scott Gottlieb, the former Commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration, told CNBC News Friday that the new strain the Task Force found appears to be behaving like the strain circulating in the UK.
The latest development came when the country identified a total of 52 cases of the British coronavirus variant, according to data updated Thursday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
26 cases were reported in California, 22 in Florida, two in Colorado, and one in Georgia and New York.
The variant first identified in Great Britain seems to spread more easily and more quickly than other variants.
Currently, there is no evidence that it causes more serious illness or an increased risk of death, according to the CDC.
Because the country is struggling to accelerate its speed COVID-19 vaccine rollout, the Task Force report said vaccines “should now be put in arms.”
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“Do not delay the rapid immunization of people over 65 and vulnerable to serious disease; recommend the establishment of high throughput vaccination sites using EMT personnel to monitor potential anaphylaxis and make full use of nursing students.
“Vaccines should not be in freezers, but must now be put into armament; active and aggressive immunization in the face of this wave would save lives,” the report added.
The US, currently the worst affected country in the world, has registered 21,857,293 so far coronavirus cases and 368,736 deaths, according to the latest figures from Johns Hopkins University.