Claims of new US coronavirus variant unfounded - CDC
Dr. Deborah Birx of the White House Coronavirus Task Force allegedly suggested that a US variant may explain the surge in coronavirus cases in the country.
By TAMAR URIEL-BEERIA woman holds a sign to thank medical workers outside the Phyllis And William Mack Pavilion during the outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in the Manhattan borough of New York City, New York, U.S., April 10, 2020(photo credit: REUTERS/CAITLIN OCHS)
There is no evidence of the US having its own coronavirus variant, US media reported on Saturday, citing the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).The CDC message was reacting to a CNN report claiming that the US had a new highly contagious variant, which the CDC said were inaccurate. The reports were based on a statement by the White House Coronavirus Task Force stating that "there may be a USA variant that has evolved here, in addition to the UK variant that is already spreading in our communities," CNN reported.Dr. Deborah Birx allegedly made the first statement during a task force meeting in which she suggested that a US variant may explain the surge in coronavirus cases in the country like the British variant and the South African variant, according to The New York Times.The Times claimed that the CDC attempted to have the reports, later published by the task force, removed, but to no avail."There is a strong possibility there are variants in the United States; however, it could [take] weeks or months to identify if there is a single variant of the virus that causes COVID-19 fueling the surge in the United States similar to the surge in the United Kingdom," a CDC spokesperson told CNN.In Israel, hundreds of citizens have already tested positive for the aggressive British variant and, on Saturday, four were said to have tested positive to the South African variant."To date, neither researchers nor analysts at [CDC] have seen the emergence of a particular variant in the United States," Jason McDonald, a spokesperson for the CDC, told The Times.As of Friday, roughly 6.6 million people across the United States had received a first injection of the two-shot vaccines out of the 22 million doses shipped, according to the CDC. That number falls far short of the 20 million vaccinations the Trump administration pledged to administer by the end of 2020 as the pandemic spirals out of control with still-mounting infections, hospitalizations and deaths.Reuters contributed to this report.
