Florida COVID-19 variant cases have doubled, according to CDC

Florida has twice as many confirmed cases of COVID-19 variant as last week, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported in new issues released Monday, worrying that a more contagious strain is spreading.

The latest CDC data show 293 confirmed cases of COVID-19 caused by variants in the United States. Of those, 92 are in Florida, twice as many as the 46 cases that were confirmed in the state last week.

The CDC does not specify the location of such cases within states.

The number of cases of confirmed variants in Florida is the highest in the county, with California at 90.

Health experts have warned that the most contagious and possibly deadliest variant crossing Britain is likely to become the dominant source of infection in the US in March.

Other mutant versions are circulating in South Africa and Brazil. The Brazilian variant was first detected in the United States in a Minnesota resident who recently traveled to the South American country, state health officials said Monday.

The more the virus spreads, the more chances it has to mutate. The fear is that it will ultimately make vaccines ineffective.

To protect himself from the new variants, President Joe Biden on Monday added South Africa to the list of more than two dozen countries whose residents are subject to coronavirus-related limits to enter the United States.

Most non-U.S. Citizens who have been to Brazil, Ireland, Britain, and other European nations will be barred from entering the United States under Biden’s rules after President Donald Trump moved to relax them.

Fauci said scientists are already preparing to adjust COVID-19 vaccines to combat mutated versions.

He said there is “a slight and modest decrease” in the effectiveness of COVID-19 vaccines against these variants, but “there is enough cushion with the vaccines we have that we still consider effective” against both.

Moderna, a manufacturer of one of two vaccines used in the United States, announced Monday that it is beginning testing a possible booster dose against the South African variant. Moderna CEO Stephane Bancel said the measure was out of “a lot of caution” after preliminary lab tests suggested his shot produced a weaker immune response to that variant.

On Monday, Florida had verified 1,658,169 cases of COVID-19 since the outbreak began and 25,446 deaths of residents, according to the state health department.