Anthony Fauci
Anthony Fauci Night Health Care: CDC Says Distance Feet Are Safe in Schools | An increase in COVID-19 cases in Europe and Brazil’s warning sign for the US Biden hits Trump on his first visit to CDC Watch live: White House COVID-19 response team press conference. US to ship surplus AstraZeneca vaccines to Mexico, Canada | The Senate confirms Becerra for HHS in a MORE tight vote, the government’s leading infectious disease expert, warned that coronavirus variants could account for up to 30 percent of infections in the U.S.
Fauci sounded the alarm specifically at a White House press conference on Friday about variant B.1.1.7, which was first discovered in the UK and has since spread around the world. .
“This variant, as you know, is becoming more and more dominant in our own country,” Fauci said.
“It was first detected in the United Kingdom in December 2020. It was reported in more than 90 countries. The first U.S. cases were detected in the United States, in Colorado, in late December 2020. And since then, it has been detected in 50 U.S. jurisdictions and probably accounts for approximately 20 to 30 percent of the infections in this country, and that number is growing, ”he said.
Fauci noted the concern of experts that the variant is more easily transmitted and that a serious infection is likely to occur once it is contracted.
“What is worrying is that there is a 50 per cent increase in transmission with this particular variant that has been documented in the UK and is likely to increase the severity of the disease if it becomes infected with this variant,” he said. to say.
Public health officials have specifically pointed to UK variants, as well as other varieties, in their calls for the public not to relax in following safety guidelines, such as the use of masks and social distancing. .
One study showed a 64% higher risk of death for people who contract variant B.1.1.7 and another showed a 61% higher risk of death.
However, vaccines have been shown to be effective against the variant.
“The way to combat 1.7.7, which is a growing threat in our country, is to do two things: vaccinate as many people as possible and as quickly as possible with the vaccine we know works against this variant; and, finally, to implement the public health measures that we talk about all the time, ”said Fauci.