Nearly 1,200 coronavirus variants cases detected in 50 U.S. states
The vast majority of these cases, 1,173, were caused by the variant known as B.1.1.7, which was originally detected in Britain, Xinhua reports.
There were 17 cases of a new strain initially discovered in South Africa, called B.1.351, and three cases of the P.1 strain first discovered in Brazil.
The number of B.1.1.7 variant cases last week was a 61 percent increase over the previous week, according to the CDC.
These are the three dominant coronavirus variants currently spreading in the United States, according to the CDC.
Numerous SARS-CoV-2 variants have emerged over the last several months, attracting the attention of health and science experts worldwide.
The CDC and partners are increasing the numbers of specimens sequenced in laboratories around the country.
COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations and deaths continue to trend downward in the United States. However, the growing spread of variants increased complexity for containing the pandemic and drew great concern from experts and officials.
The B.1.1.7 and B.1.351 concern scientists because of emerging data suggesting their increased transmissibility, according to a study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA).
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