CDC says Covid ‘s new pressure in the U.S. could put pressure on hospitals with a heavy burden

Officials from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Wednesday that a new strain of Covid-19 now circulating in the U.S. could put further pressure on hospitals already overgrown with coronavirus patients .

Colorado health officials announced Tuesday that they have discovered the first known case of the new and more infectious type of virus first discovered in the United Kingdom. A second new individual strain originally identified in South Africa may already be circulating in the U.S. as well, CDC officials said.

“As the changes spread faster, they could lead to more issues and even more pressure on our already heavily stressed healthcare systems,” said Dr Henry Walke, the group’s Covid event manager, on a conference call with reporters.

Walke said the available data shows that the new variant spreads “easier and faster than other strains,” but does not appear to cause more serious disease or increased risk of death.

He noted that the person in Colorado who was infected with the new virus had no travel history, which “suggests that this variant was transmitted from person to person in the United States.” He added that by considering the extent of the variability in the UK, the future was expected to vary in the US “.

“Viruses always change through movement and we expect new changes to emerge over time,” he said. “Many mutations lead to changes that do not change as the virus responds. influence on people. At some point, however, changes will emerge that can spread more easily, such as these. “

He said “experts believe our routine vaccines will be effective against” the two new series. Scientists are still studying how the new strain treats Covid-19 therapies such as monoclonal and convalescent plasma antibodies.

Dr Greg Armstrong, director of the CDC’s Office of Advanced Molecular Diagnosis, said the confirmation that the vaccines will be effective against the new variant is based on “experience with similar mutations before.” He said immunity that causes previous infection from a different strain is also effective against these new strains.

National and state laboratories across the country are conducting experiments to determine if other variants are present in the U.S. and how widespread the variant found in the UK is spreading. He said the CDC is increasing the national inspection program so that they receive 750 samples per week for ordering.

He said the agency is contracting with seven academic institutions across the country to order samples and find new variants locally. These centers, he said, are in Boston, Massachusetts New Haven, Connecticut, Athens, Georgia, Nashville, Tennessee, Madison, Wisconsin, and the Scripps Institution in San Diego, California.

“There are a lot of labs that have this capability around the US,” he said of testing for the new variant. “A lot of them are looking for this variable right now.”