There is no new highly contagious variant of coronavirus in the US despite reports that a new strain of fatal error was circulating here.
Officials said reports suggesting a new mutation were based on speculative statements made by Dr. Deborah Birx of the White House coronavirus working group, but they are not accurate, the New York Times reported Saturday.
The rumor arose from a meeting during which Birx discussed graphs showing the sharp increase in the spread of the virus across the country. He theorized that a new, more transmissible variant originating in this country could explain the rapid escalation in the number of cases, as it did in Britain a new highly contagious variant in the United Kingdom.
His hypothesis turned it into a weekly report sent to state governors, CNBC reported. “This acceleration suggests that there may be a U.S. variant that has evolved here, in addition to the UK variant that is already spreading to our communities and may be 50% more transmissible,” he said. report.
CDC officials disagreed with her assessment and called for her to be removed from the report, but were unsuccessful, the Times said. Following information on the possible variant, the agency issued a formal statement refuting the theory. “So far, neither CDC researchers nor analysts have seen the emergence of a particular variant in the United States,” spokesman Jason McDonald said.
He noted that all viruses evolve and there are probably many variants around the world that evolve simultaneously. “However, it may take weeks or months to identify whether there is a single variant of the virus that causes COVID-19 that feeds the increase in the United States similar to the increase in the United Kingdom.”
Dr. Birx could not be contacted immediately for comment.
The UK variant, which has caused a surge to overwhelm hospitals, has been found in several states, including New York. The CDC estimates that it accounts for less than 0.5 percent of cases in the country so far.
A second variant has been in the United States for three months and also accounts for less than 0.5 percent of cases, making it unlikely to be more contagious than other variants, a CDC official told the Times.