The new coronavirus strains are likely to spread to the United States, according to the CDC

ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. – Recent reports suggest that new strains of coronavirus have been detected in other parts of the world, including Britain and South Africa.

Health experts in the UK and US said the strain appears to be more easily infected than others, but there is still no evidence that it is more deadly.

Some nations have implemented new travel restrictions in an effort to block the spread of virus variants (which, according to health experts, infect more easily than others).

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the new variant, known as 501.V2, has not been detected in the United States, but only about 51,000 of the 17 million infections in the United States have been sequenced. . most sequences with 125,000, according to the CDC.

The CDC issued guidelines Tuesday on the implications of the variant.

[TRENDING: Rare ‘Christmas star’ puts on a show | Suspects sold ‘jail broken’ Amazon Fire Sticks | Who will be the next to receive the COVID-19 vaccine?]

“Continuous travel between the UK and the US, as well as the high prevalence of this variant among current UK infections, increase the likelihood of imports,” the CDC said in a statement. “Given the small fraction of U.S. infections that have been sequenced, the variant could already be in the United States undetected.”

To better monitor coronavirus variants in the United States, the CDC will begin receiving 10 samples from each state in January every two weeks for further sequencing and analysis.

On Monday, when asked by the top health official in central Florida if he believed travel from temporary locations should be stopped, he said it was probably too late.

“While everyone is trying to stop the way this new strain can spread all over the world, it could already be all over the world because it wasn’t identified yesterday … so that had happened,” Dr. Raul Pino, with the Florida Department of Health-Orange County. “So it’s safe to assume it has already spread to some places.”

Pino said Monday at a news conference that the analysis that determined there was a mutation in the virus was done retrospectively, so it is likely that variants of the virus will exist for a while.

And according to a recent report by The Associated Press, that’s normal.

Viruses evolve naturally as they move through the population, some more than others. It’s one of the reasons we need a new flu shot every year.

New variants or strains of the virus caused by COVID-19 have been seen almost since it was first detected in China about a year ago.

The good news, according to Pino, is that the new vaccines just approved by U.S. health officials are also designed to protect those who are inoculated with variants.

“It is also important to know that existing vaccines will continue to be effective even against them,” Pino said.

Pino said it’s important to remember that the vaccine won’t completely eliminate the coronavirus and that the best way to protect yourself from any virus, including the flu, is to practice CDC guidelines.

“Actually, we are pleasantly surprised by the low flu season this season. Although the flu goes up and down, we believe that the use of the mask has also had an impact on the transmission of the flu,” he said. “Therefore, it is important to continue wearing the mask and please do not trust the vaccine yet, as the vaccine, as we will implement it, will not have immediate effects on the pandemic.”

According to the latest data, Orange County has reported 69,491 cases of COVID-19 and more than 700 deaths since the start of the pandemic.

As of Monday night, more than 5,000 people have been vaccinated in Orange County with the Pfizer shot, according to Pino. The county is preparing to receive 16,000 doses of the Modern vaccine on Tuesday and plans to vaccinate EMS staff from December 26-31.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.