The new variant of the coronavirus, initially identified in the United Kingdom and already circulating in the United States, could put greater pressure on hospitals that are already overflowing with patients, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) warned on Wednesday .
Studies on the strain indicate that it spreads faster and has a greater transmission capacity, so that if the original virus infected two people, the mutation could infect four.
This could increase the number of people who become seriously ill and need hospitalization.
"As the variants
spread more rapidly
, they could lead to more cases and put even more pressure on our health care systems, which are already overloaded," said Dr. Henry Walke, COVID-19 Incident Manager for the CDC.
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Meanwhile, health authorities in Colorado have detected a
second person
who, they suspect, has been infected with the new variant of the coronavirus, which was detected for the first time in the United States.
“We are aware of one confirmed and another possible case of the B117 variant.
Both cases are of
members of the National Guard
who were deployed in the Good Samaritan Society asylum for the elderly, in Simla, Colorado ”, explained in a press conference the main epidemiologist of the state, Rachel Herlihy.
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The deployment of the National Guard at the care center began on December 25, according to Herlihy, due to a
serious coronavirus outbreak
in mid-December and a lack of personnel to care for the sick.
Scientists have
two theories
about how these people were infected: the strain is present in the care center for the elderly, or they were infected before starting their activities in Colorado.
Neither of the two confirmed cases traveled to other countries in recent weeks.
Herlihy said that health authorities are
investigating the chain of contagion
, to discover if there are more people in the state exposed to the virus.
Currently, 20 members of the National Guard and 26 residents of the nursing home have been diagnosed with COVID-19.
Four residents have died of the disease.
A team has been sent to the Good Samaritan Society center to collect samples, although there is no evidence so far that the new variant is circulating there.
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The first case identified in the United States of a person infected with the new variant of the coronavirus is a 20-year-old man, with no recent travel history, who is in isolation recovering from his symptoms.
The Colorado Department of Public Health continually studies the samples it receives from diagnostic tests performed in the state.
Scientists have been tracking the strain since December 20, when the infections forced a new confinement in the United Kingdom, reported Emily Travante, scientific director of the department's laboratory services division.
The strain has a special molecular composition, distinguishable in its
spike
protein
.
Thus, scientists have identified two samples with mutations associated with the new variant of the coronavirus.
This second case has not yet been confirmed, Travante said.
In addition,
12 samples are still being studied
.
Those who have been exposed to the new strain will be put in for 14 days, authorities added.
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The governor, Jared Polis, stressed that there are probably more people infected with the strain in the northeastern United States, but it was detected for the first time in Colorado due to the work of scientists
“There is a lot we don't know about this variant.
Scientists in Colorado and, of course, in the UK, are studying and monitoring exactly how transmission works with this variant, ”said Polis.
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It's not unusual for viruses to mutate, Polis added, and evidence shows that the new strain appears to
spread more quickly
.
This implies that more people would become infected, increasing the number of hospitalizations.
But so far it has not been shown to be any more deadly.
To deal with the variant of the coronavirus, the
instructions are the same
: maintain social distance, wear a mask, and wash your hands frequently with soap and water.