WH Covid-19 Task Force warns of possible ‘USA variant’

Washington, Jan 9 : The White House Coronavirus Task Force has warned of a possibility that there would be a more transmissible Covid-19 variant that evolved in the US.
The new strain, in addition to the variant found in Britain, is already spreading in communities and may be 50 per cent more transmissible, according to a report obtained by US media that the task force issued to states on January 3.
The task force said the recent spike in cases has been at nearly twice the rate seen in the spring and summer seasons, Xinhua news agency quoted the report as saying.
“This acceleration suggests there may be a ‘USA variant’ that has evolved here, in addition to the UK variant that is already spreading in our communities and may be 50 per cent more transmissible,” said the report, calling for aggressive mitigation to match a much more aggressive virus.
“Without uniform implementation of effective face masking (two or three ply and well-fitting) and strict social distancing, epidemics could quickly worsen as these variants spread and become predominant,” it added.
Scott Gottlieb, the former Commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration, told CNBC News on Friday that the new strain the Task Force has found appears to be behaving like the one circulating in the UK.