America's own 'super-covid' is here: Ohio reports TWO homegrown, more-infectious strains - including one that has become dominant in Columbus - as US shatters new daily death record with 4,300 fatalities
The US now has its own homegrown 'super-covid' variants that are more infectious than the most common coronavirus types in the US - and the new variants are spreading like wildfire in at least one state, Ohio scientists revealed Wednesday.
One of the new, more infectious variants has already become dominant in Columbus, Ohio, where it was discovered. This unique US variant has three mutations not seen in the others from the UK and South Africa.
So far, this homegrown variant has been seen in about 20 samples since Ohio State University scientists first detected it in December. It's now present in most of the samples they are sequencing.
A second variant has mutations identical to the UK variant's, but arose completely independently on American soil, according to Ohio State University scientists. Just one person with this variant has been found.
'It has a variant backbone that is in common with the UK and South African variants,' but is separate, said Dr Daniel Jones, one of the Ohio State University scientists involved in the discovery of the variants.
'We are now in a period where the virus is changing quite substantially...so we are concerned,' at least over the transmissibility, said Dr Jones.
It comes after Dr Deborah Birx warned over the weekend that the patter of COVID-19 case spikes suggested the US could already have its own 50 percent more infectious 'super-covid' variant.
Scientists are quite sure both American variants are more infectious, but don't know yet whether they will be immune to vaccines. The Columbus variant is not currently thought to be deadlier, but scientists are ramping up their search for cases of it to monitor how sick people who catch it get.
'Super-covid' variants are not yet dominant in the broader US, but three Americans died of COVID-19 every minute yesterday. The death toll spiked to a record high cases and hospitalizations continue to surge and hard-hit Los Angeles says children are apologizing to their dying relatives for spreading the virus.
The United States recorded a staggering 4,327 deaths on Tuesday, bringing the total death toll to more than 380,000 - more than the past 10 flu seasons combined.
The seven-day rolling average for deaths is now at more than 3,200 per day.
In the first 12 days of this month, 34,534 Americans have already died of COVID. That toll is more than the entire monthly totals recorded from June to November last year.
Ohio has two homegrown 'super-covid' variants. One person has a variant that is nearly identical to the one devastating the UK, but evolved in the US , rather than being imported. A second new variant has also emerged in Columbus, Ohio, and become dominant there (red spikey ball). It has three mutations that are completely different from those seen in the UK strain
A staggering 4,470 deaths Americans succumbed to the virus in the 24 hours to Tuesday evening, according to new data obtained by Johns Hopkins University. Pictured above health care workers tend to a COVID patient at Providence St. Mary Medical Center in Apple Valley, California on Monday
WHAT ARE THE NEW AMERICAN COVID-19 VARIANTS AND WHAT WILL THEY MEAN FOR US CASES, DEATHS, TRAVEL BANS AND VACCINES?
ANOTHER 'MORE INFECTIOUS' COVID VARIANT FOUND IN BRAZIL
Yet another new 'more infectious' strain of coronavirus similar to the British and South African variants has been identified after mutating in Brazil.
The mutated variant of Covid was discovered in Tokyo, Japan last week in four people who had arrived on a flight from South America.
Scientists have said that the strain has similarities to those of the highly contagious variants found in England and South Africa.
Namely, it has a genetic mutation called N501Y, which changes the shape of the spike proteins found on the outside of the virus.
The mutation makes Covid more able to latch onto the receptors inside the body that it targets, meaning it makes it past the body's natural defences more often.
People who are exposed to the virus therefore become infected more often than they would if the other person was infected with an older, less contagious strain. However, there is no evidence to suggest the mutation makes the virus more deadly.
A World Health Organization report on the variant last week said: 'The variant was identified when whole-genome sequencing was conducted on samples from 4 travellers from Brazil who were tested at the airport.
'Through our regional offices, we are working with both Japanese and Brazilian authorities to evaluate the significance of these findings.
With the 'super-covid' variant from the UK already in 10 US states, OSU scientists went looking for it, or a similar, more infectious variant in Ohio.
They found neither.
But they did find two variants that evolved in the US.
These new strains 'didn't arrive on a plane or a boat,' said Dr Peter Mohler, chief scientific officer at the Ohio State Wexner Medical Center during a Wednesday press briefing.
'These are spontaneous or natural mutations that happened over the last six to eight weeks.'
Scientists saw the first signs of a new variant in December.
They had begun spot-checking samples taken from covid-positive people to test them and see whether they matched any of the new variants detected in the UK, South Africa and Brazil - the latter of which UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson warned Wednesday could soon arrive there.
To do so, they have to sequence the viral genome of each sample. OSU scientists started seeing three mutations in the samples they were checking.
These three mutations hadn't been seen in any of the variants circulating around the globe.
One mutation does affect the spike protein on the virus's surface that allows it to infect human cells, but it is a different mutation to this part of the virus than is seen in the UK or South African variants.
The Columbus variant has two additional mutations.
By mid-January, the OSU scientists said the new variant was appearing in most of the viral samples from Columbus they were sequencing.
OSU had been sequencing about 10 samples a week, but is stepping those up. About 20 samples have come up positive for the new variant in recent weeks, suggesting it is now dominant in Columbus.
So far, the Columbus variant hasn't been reported outside Ohio, but the OSU team admitted its emergence could alter policymakers' recommendations on travel restrictions.
On one hand, homegrown super-covid variants mean that banning international travelers - as New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio wants to do - won't stop more infectious forms of the virus from infecting Americans.
On the other, having two new super-covid variants could mean Ohio's borders should be close to incoming and outgoing travel.
Their findings on the other new variant back up the former policy.
An elderly woman was recently admitted to an Ohio hospital and diagnosed with COVID-9.
Genome sequencing revealed that the variant infecting her had all the hallmarks of the UK variant.
But genome sequencing also allows scientists to look at the evolutionary history of each sample of virus.
The virus infecting the woman had no UK or South African relatives - despite its resemblance.
The implication of that is a creepy new phase of the pandemic: the virus may be evolving in similar ways in separate countries, completely independently, perhaps because the spike mutation seen in four lineages now - in the UK, South Africa, Brazil and, now, the US - are advantageous.
Cases have been picking up in Ohio - and especially in Franklin County, where COlumbus is located (dark blue, center), perhaps fueled by the new variants there
Dr Anthony Fauci said the curve of US infections 'looks a bit like the curve in the UK.' Pictured: The rise of COVID-19 cases in the UK
'This is the moment, as we're starting to see changes, where the vaccine is being introduced and the virus has been in the population for some months,' said Dr Jones.
SARS-CoV-2, which causes COVID-19, has been stable, for a virus, since the pandemic began year ago. But now, it's starting to change in more dramatic ways.
TWO NYC RESIDENTS ARE AMONG THE STATE'S 15 CASES OF UK 'SUPER-COVID'
Two New York City residents have contracted the highly contagious coronavirus variant first identified in the UK.
This makes the two cases, announced by Mayor Bill de Blasio on Wednesday, among the 15 infections recently confirmed across the state.
The two people live in Manhattan and Queens, respectively, and one of them had recently traveled to the UK.
With cases of the new variant spreading, now infecting least 83 people in 11 states, de Blasio called once again for a complete travel ban from the UK.
'To-date, we have no data that the vaccine will not be effective on these viral and they do not lead to a loss of protection against a related virus,' said Dr Jones.
But the team, as well as scientists at the CDC and abroad, will be watching these variants closely.
US HITS ANOTHER RECORD HIGH DAILY DEATH TOLL OF 4,300 FATALITIES AS LA OFFICIALS BEG PEOPLE TO WEAR MASKS AT HOME TO CONTROL ITS DIRE OUTBREAK
Meanwhile, hospitalizations and case numbers also remain precariously high with 131,000 patients currently being treated for COVID nationwide and 230,000 new cases recorded on Tuesday.
And with cases of the UK 'super-covid' variant on the rise in the US, cases could be set to surge further. At least 85 Americans in 10 states have now been infected with the more contagious UK variant.
Those states include: Colorado, California, Florida, Georgia, New York, Texas, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, Minnesota and Indiana.
The situation is dire in Los Angeles with LA County health officials now urging residents to wear masks inside their own homes to stop the virus spreading between family members.
Officials say the surging rates of COVID-19 in the city is likely tied to family gatherings that have taken place over Thanksgiving and Christmas.
They also say children are apologizing to their elderly residents who have become sickened with the disease.
'One of the more heartbreaking conversations that our healthcare workers share is about these last words when children apologize to their parents and grandparents for bringing COVID into their homes for getting them sick,' County Supervisor Hilda Solis told The Los Angeles Times.
'Please, for your loved ones, stay home. Stay safe. Keep your loved ones alive.'
Doctors in the city fear that reports of overcrowding have been keeping some sickly people from seeking medical care.
Medics are urging those who are elderly and are experiencing a shortness of breath to contact their healthcare provider.
'Even if hospitals are full, you have to go seek care or call your doctor,' one doctor urged. The longer you wait for this disease. The less chance we have to give you some of the therapies that can help you get through this.'
As of Monday. Los Angeles County alone had clocked 932,908 cases, with 10 residents testing positive to the virus every minute.
One person is dying from the virus every eight minutes in the county.
Health officials there are scrambling to speed up the rollout of the COVID-19 vaccines, with plans to open large centers in order to have 500,00 healthcare workers receive their first jab by the end of the month.
More than 9 million people across the country have now had their first dose of the vaccine with 27 million doses have been distributed.
The Trump administration moved on Tuesday to accelerate vaccinations of Americans against COVID-19, releasing the rest of the doses it had been keeping in reserve and recommending states immediately open inoculations to those aged 65 and over.
Meanwhile, the number of COVID deaths recorded in the first 12 days of January alone has already eclipsed the number of virus fatalities recorded in each month from June to October last year
The United States has set a grim new record for daily COVID deaths as the pandemic continues to worsen across the country. Pictured: Patients waiting in a hallway at an overcrowded hospital in Apple Valley, California, on Tuesday
Los Angeles hospitals dealing with the surge of COVID-19 cases are using refrigerated trailers to temporarily store the deceased - as seen above Tuesday
AMERICA'S DEADLIEST DAYS OF THE PANDEMIC
January 12, 2021: 4,327
January 7, 2021: 4,194
January 8, 2021: 3,939
January 6, 2021: 3,854
January 5, 2021: 3,767
Source: Johns Hopkins University
Federal and state health officials have scrambled in recent days to step up vaccination programs that had given shots to only 9.3 million Americans as coronavirus infections remain at record highs in many U.S. states nearly two weeks into the new year.
Many U.S. states had strict rules in place giving shots to healthcare workers and nursing home residents first, telling 'non-essential workers' they might wait months for their turn.
'We've already distributed more vaccine than we have healthcare workers and people in nursing homes,' U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar told ABC News. 'We've got to get to more channels of administration.'
Roughly 27.5 million doses have been distributed by the U.S. government to states so far, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.Azar said the outgoing administration, which had been keeping doses in reserve to make sure that all those who got a first inoculation receive their second shot on schedule, was now confident enough in the supply chain to release that stockpile.
It comes as Dr. Anthony Fauci conceded that some state officials were too worried about adhering to the rules, which is slowing the vaccination process down.
'Guidance from the CDC may have been a bit too rigid,' CNN quoted Fauci as saying on Tuesday during a webcast hosted by Schmidt Futures and Social Science Research Council.
Meanwhile, the US on Tuesday announced all air travelers entering the country will need a negative Covid-19 test before departure. The policy takes effect on January 26 and expands an existing measure targeting Britain where the mutant strain known as B117 has been tied to a drastic spike in cases.
'Testing does not eliminate all risk, but when combined with a period of staying at home and everyday precautions like wearing masks and social distancing, it can make travel safer,' said CDC director Robert Redfield.
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