COVID-19: More contagious UK variant spreading rapidly in US, says CDC

UK’s more virulent strain of coronavirus is fast spreading across the United States, roughly doubling the caseload every 10 days, a new morbidity and mortality weekly report by the US Center for Disease Control and Prevention found. According to CDC, the highly transmissible variant of SARS-CoV-2, B.1.1.7, first identified in the UK  has been detected in at least 12 US states. “B.1.1.7 has the potential to increase the U.S. pandemic trajectory in the coming months,” the report warned, adding that the CDC has stepped up efforts for the mutant’s genomic surveillance and its sequencing to generate more accurate data. 

Suggesting the increased compliance to the health safety measures such as social distancing and mask usage, the CDC insisted that the officials were targeting new containment approach under National SARS-CoV-2 Strain Surveillance program. This included expansion of vaccination among the vulnerable population or those at higher risk of contracting the more contagious mutant, such as people with comorbidity. 

The UK reported a SARS-CoV-2 variant of concern (VOC), lineage B.1.1.7, last year in December 2020 after cases were detected in England and parts of London. The strain quickly became dominant, spreading in over 30 countries abroad, including the US. “Multiple lines of evidence indicate that B.1.1.7 is more efficiently transmitted than are other SARS-CoV-2 variants,” the report warned. “The modeled trajectory of this variant in the U.S. exhibits rapid growth in early 2021,” it continued. Taking measures such as inoculating the population might lessen the impact of the deadlier, more transmissible UK strain which is fast evolving, CDC said.

Higher mortality rate

Earlier, scientists found that the more virulent UK strain of the coronavirus which was first detected across England and London has a "significantly higher” mortality rate. The variant dubbed as B.1.1.7, is “more lethal, and leads to more hospitalizations and caseload” as compared to the other mutants, based on the analysis of data released by New and Emerging Respiratory Virus Threats Advisory Group (NERVTAG) on SARS-CoV-2 variant B.1.1.7. After several preliminary analyses, it was found that the death rate from the new SARS-CoV-2strain was 70 percent more lethal, a study published British Medical Journal on Wednesday revealed.