Experts have said fears that a “fourth wave” will hit the United States may have been exaggerated, as Florida continues to record falls in coronavirus cases and deaths despite having more cases of the UK’s super-COVID variant than any other. state.
CDC data show one-fifth of all cases in the United States of the most highly contagious and deadliest strain B.1.1.7 first detected in the south of England comes from Sunshine State.
In all, Florida has reported 690 cases, eliminating much of the rest of the U.S., where 44 of the 50 states have reported less than 100 cases. Michigan’s next highest state has 563 followed by Colorado with 267.
The prevalence of the new strain on U.S. soil sparked fears about a fourth wave of the virus, just as the nation was getting back on its feet and states were reopening.
All eyes have been on Florida as, along with the high number of varying cases, the state has also followed one of the most aggressive reopening plans and has no mask mandate.
In recent weeks, maskless spring strips have flocked to crowded bars and beaches and Gov. Ron DeSantis has urged people to visit the state to get their economy back on track.
But while fears were growing that the strain and relaxation of the rules would create a melting pot for the new strain of the virus, cases and deaths have followed a downward trend across the state.
CDC data show one-fifth of all cases in the United States of the most highly contagious and deadliest strain B.1.1.7 first detected in the south of England comes from Sunshine State
The dark line in this graph shows the seven-day rotating average of the new strain B.1.1.7 as a proportion of all new cases in Florida. It shows the variant that accounted for 33 percent of all new cases on February 25, the date on which the latest information is available.
Dr. Eric Topol of Scripps Research told Yahoo News Florida it had been a test case to see if the new strain would devastate the U.S.
“We have doubts about whether the B.1.1.7 strain will reach the United States – Florida,” he told Yahoo.
And so far, the prevalence of the new strain has not translated into more deaths or cases of the virus.
“And there are no signs of any increase in cases. All is well so far,” he said.
“The good news from Florida is an encouraging sign for the rest of us. It doesn’t mean America is out of the woods. But it does suggest we could get out sooner than we thought,” Andrew Romano wrote for Yahoo News.
In fact, Florida has seen a 75 percent drop in total cases since early January.
The state’s latest COVID increase peaked on Jan. 8: 84 new daily cases per 100,000 population, but cases have steadily dropped and stood at 22 per 100,000 on Thursday.
Hospitalizations have also halved over the same period, as has the positivity rate of the Florida test, which now stands at 4.88 percent.
Deaths have also dropped sharply with five deaths recorded on Thursday, down from 131 exactly a month ago, on February 11th.
This is despite the fact that the new variant accounts for almost a fifth of all new cases registered in the state between December 19 (when the first case of the new strain was detected in Florida) and February 25, according to Outbreak.info.
The data show that 18 percent of cases in this time period are those of the new strain.
Florida leads the nation in confirmed cases of the British variant with 690, while most other states have less than 100 cases of the strain
College students have come down to Florida for spring break with Fort Lauderdale beaches full of maskless partygoers
A mix of spring summer, families and locals at Cocoa Beach this week
“If cases continue to decline in Florida despite circulating variants, the variant may not be as bad as expected,” doctoral epidemiologist Suzanne Judd (not pictured) told DailyMail.com. on Friday Fridays they go down to Fort Lauderdale, Florida, Thursday
Still, new cases in Florida have continued to fall, falling 75% since early January, despite warnings of the final judgment on the Super Bowl and relaxed business restrictions.
However, his domain increases the data shown, with the seven-day rotating average reaching 33 percent on Feb. 25, the date for which the data is last available.
Earlier this week, there were separate investigators dear that B117 had reached more than half of new cases in Florida, after accounting for only 4 percent of cases a month ago.
In total, the 690 cases of the new variant represent a small proportion of the 1.9 million cases that Florida has registered since last March.
That said, health experts estimate that the actual number of variant cases in Florida is much higher than official figures, as less than 1 percent of cases are tested for mutations.
British officials have warned that variant B117 is up to 70 per cent more contagious than previous chains, and new research suggests it is twice as deadly, raising fears that an increase in the variant could outperform vaccines.
While Florida suggests that fears may have been exaggerated, experts say the data should be continually reviewed.
The percentage of Florida surveillance tests with “failure of the S gene target,” the vast majority of which are cases of B117, is seen to exceed 50% this week
Deaths have dropped dramatically in Florida as hospitalizations and cases have also declined
‘I think we keep seeing the data. If cases continue to decline in Florida despite circulating variants, the variant may not be as bad as expected, “Suzanne Judd, a doctoral epidemiologist at the University of Alabama at Birmingham’s School of Public Health, told DailyMail.com.
“That’s why we need to avoid speculating with variants until we have the data,” he added.
Some experts think that the positive signs that the variant does not cause a new wave could be at least partially derived from the deployment of the vaccine.
Meanwhile, 18.5 percent of Floridians have received at least one dose of COVID vaccine and 10 percent are fully vaccinated, according to CDC data.
Judd, the epidemiologist, noted that Israeli data showed that even partial vaccination appears to limit the spread of B117, suggesting that the vaccine was released just in time.
“Although the variant spread rapidly in the UK, there was little data on how it would spread to the population with any level of vaccination,” he said.
College students have come down to Florida to spend the spring break with the beaches of Fort Lauderdale full of masks without masks. Florida is the US capital B117, but has declining cases
Meanwhile, worrying new research has emerged suggesting that variant B117, also known in the UK as the “Kent variant”, is more lethal as well as more contagious.
A new study found that the most infectious variant, which spread across the UK late last year before spreading around the world, is between 30 and 100 per cent more deadly.
Epidemiologists at the universities of Exeter and Bristol said the data suggest that the variant is associated with a significantly higher mortality rate among adults compared to previously circulating strains.
Robert Challen, of the University of Exeter, lead author of the study, said: “In the community, death from Covid-19 is still a rare occurrence, but variant B117 increases the risk.
“Along with its ability to spread rapidly, this makes the B117 a threat that should be taken seriously.”
The researchers examined mortality rates between people infected with the new variant and those infected with other strains.
They found that the variant first detected in Kent caused 227 deaths in a sample of 54,906 patients, compared with 141 among the same number of patients who had the previous strains.
Mutations in the virus have raised concerns about whether vaccines would be effective against new strains, including strain B117.
But research suggests that Pfizer’s stroke is as effective against the coronavirus variant as it is against the original pandemic strain, and other studies indicate that the Modern vaccine is also very effective against the variant.