Experts warn that the U.S. is woefully ill-equipped to monitor a deadly new virus without a comprehensive framework. A framework to classify genetic variants of the coronavirus, leaving health officials blind as they try to tackle the grave threat.
READ: People who Received Moderna or Pfizer COVID-19 Vaccine Must Get Two Full Doses, FDA Reiterates
The variant, as experts say, the new virus is now evolving in Britain. Can expand over the next few weeks in the U.S., which could mean placing new pressures near hospitals' breaking point.
Experts Say the US Could Be Blind the New Virus Variant
The government's latest infection advisers now state they have "high" confidence that the new virus is more capable of transmitting than other versions.
The analysis is at an early stage, with enormous uncertainties and a long list of unanswered questions.
According to data published Wednesday by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, at least 52 cases of a coronavirus variant first detected in the U.K. have been discovered in the United States. The following includes at least 26 points in California, 22 patients in Florida, two cases in Colorado, and one case in Georgia and New York.
The CDC notes that this does not reflect the total number of cases circulating in the U.S., but rather those detected by positive sample analysis. The agency warns that its estimates, which are scheduled to be revised on Tuesdays and Thursdays, do not immediately match state and local health departments.
ALSO READ: Report: Another Increase in COVID-19 Infections Could Completely Damage the US Healthcare System
Experts say that a national surveillance program would determine just how widespread the new virus is and help contain emerging hot spots, extending the crucial window of time in which vulnerable people across the country could get vaccinated.
While Simon Clarke, an associate professor of cellular microbiology at the U.K.'s University of Reading, responded in NBC News that it is "very common" for viruses to mutate, he emphasizes.
"When they cause an infection," he explains, "when they get inside our cells and then takes over the cell and make more copies of themselves to reproduce, " adding that " every time they do that, a new set of genetic material will be made for each new virus," Simon confidently said, while adding that the new strain is "certainly fitter" than its predecessor. He continued.
READ MORE: New UK COVID-19 Mutation Detected in Colorado, Severity of Contagiousness not Determined
While the variant tends to spread more quickly, there is no evidence that it is any more deadly or causes more severe illness. Statement according to the CDC experts.
Experts believe that several more cases of the new virus will occur in the country and have criticized the U.S. for not doing more genetic sequencing of virus samples for mutation surveillance.
When they circulate, coronaviruses mutate continually. The new virus's risk of acquiring modifications that make it less vulnerable to vaccines or drugs is what scares doctors and scientists. There is no evidence until now that coronaviruses can prevent the effects of vaccines or therapies.
