- A potential fourth surge of cases in the US may be on the line owing to the pandemic spread.
- The UK, South Africa and Brazil strains appear to be more contagious.
- CDC warns that until more people are vaccinated, variants could drive a spike in cases.
A top health official has warned that the spread of highly contagious coronavirus variants is threatening to fuel a “potential fourth surge of cases,” reports BBC.
Surging new COVID cases
The head of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said she was concerned by recent Covid-19 data.
She said about 70,000 new cases a day were recorded last week, “a very high number.” There were nearly 2000 deaths a day in the same period, she said.
“Please hear me clearly: At this level of cases, with variants spreading, we stand to completely lose the hard-earned ground we have gained,” Dr Rochelle Walensky, director of the CDC, said on Monday. “These variants are a very real threat to our people and our progress.”
Variants of concern
There are many different versions, or variants, of Covid-19 circulating, but health experts are particularly concerned about a few.
These include variants first detected in UK, South Africa and Brazil that appear to be more contagious.
The CDC has predicted the highly contagious B.1.1.7 variant first found in the UK will become the dominant strain in the US this month.
Given this, Dr Walensky said she was “really worried” about reports of US states “rolling back the exact public health measures we have recommended to protect people from Covid-19.”
“We have the ability to stop a potential fourth surge of cases in this country. Please stay strong in your conviction,” she said.
In total, the US has recorded more than 28 million infections and 500,000 deaths related to Covid-19, according to World Health Organization (WHO) data.
Vaccination drive
The CDC says that until more people are vaccinated variants could drive a spike in cases threatening health systems already under strain.
More than 2463 infections involving variants of concern have been reported, according to CDC data. Most of those cases – at least 2400 – are of the UK variant.
The true number of people infected by variants in the US is thought to be higher. There is no evidence that any of the variants causes much more serious illness for most people who become infected.
Scientists believe current vaccines do offer protection against variants as well.
How are vaccinations going in the US?
As of Monday, the US had administered more than 76 million doses of vaccine, CDC data showed.
Overall, the US has given the most doses of any country in the world. But when breaking the figures down by population, looking at doses administered per 100 people, the US ranked fourth behind the UK, the UAE and Israel, according to Our World in Data.
Following the Pfizer and Moderna Vaccine, a third single-shot vaccine developed by Johnson & Johnson was approved for use in the US on Saturday.
Jeff Zients, co-ordinator of the White House coronavirus response team, said the vaccine would start to be delivered “as early as tomorrow.” About 3.9 million doses of the vaccine will be distributed across the country in the coming days, he said.
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Source: BBC
