Reports Of More-Contagious U.S. Virus Variant Inaccurate

ACROSS AMERICA — As Americans headed into the weekend, new reports surfaced claiming that a new, more-contagious variant of the coronavirus had been found in the United States.

By Saturday, however, the claims had been debunked.

According to the New York Times, the reports of a highly contagious new variant were inaccurate and based on speculative statements made by White House coronavirus task force member Dr. Deborah Birx.

At a recent task force meeting, Birx reportedly made a hypothesis that a new, more-transmissible variant originating in the United States could be behind a recent surge in coronavirus cases.

The speculation then emerged in a weekly report sent to state governors.

Officials at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention don't agree with the assessment and have asked for the speculation to be removed from the report, the Times reported.

“Researchers at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are monitoring all emerging variants of the coronavirus, including in 5,700 samples collected in November and December,” Jason McDonald, a spokesman for the CDC, told the Times. “To date, neither researchers nor analysts at CDC have seen the emergence of a particular variant in the United States."

The Latest

Nine days into 2021, the United States has added more than 2 million new coronavirus cases, bringing the country's total since the start of the pandemic to a staggering 22 million cases.

Top public health experts warned the situation would get worse before it gets better. So far, the numbers are proving them right.

In an interview with McClatchy on Friday, CDC director Dr. Robert Redfield warned that the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol could also end up significantly spreading the coronavirus.

“I do think you have to anticipate that this is another surge event,” he said. “You had largely unmasked individuals in a non-distanced fashion, who were all through the Capitol.”

Both Redfield and Stephen Hahn, commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration, have considered resigning in the wake of the pro-Trump riot, according to the Times.

Another top coronavirus response official, Seema Verma, administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, has also contemplated leaving her post, according to the same report.

Meanwhile, another more-contagious variant of the coronavirus that originated in the United Kingdom has surfaced in several states across the nation. The CDC, however, estimates that it accounts for less than 0.5 percent of cases in the country so far.

The B.1.1.7 coronavirus variant had been found in eight states — California, Colorado, Texas, Georgia, Florida, Pennsylvania, New York and Connecticut.

New research suggests that Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine may actually protect against the mutation found in the U.K. as well as another more-contagious variant found in South Africa. Pfizer teamed with researchers from the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston for laboratory tests to see if the mutation affected its vaccine's ability to do so.

According to The Associated Press, they used blood samples from 20 people who received the vaccine, made by Pfizer and its German partner BioNTech, during a large study of the shots.

Antibodies from those vaccine recipients successfully fended off the virus in lab dishes, according to the study posted last week on an online site for researchers.

America's vaccine rollout has not been quick enough, and a new approach should be taken, Dr. Scott Gottlieb, former commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration, said on CBS' "Face the Nation," according to The New York Times.

Gottlieb said federal and state leaders should "hit the reset and adopt a new strategy."

“I think we need to take an all-of-the-above approach and push it out through different channels,” he said.

President-elect Joe Biden has indicated support for releasing nearly all available COVID-19 doses when he takes office in 12 days, according to a CNN report.

The move would break with the Trump administration's strategy of holding back half of U.S. vaccine production to ensure second doses are available.

Releasing all doses could accelerate the pace at which people receive the first shot.

Biden's plan came after a group of governors wrote a letter to Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar and Operation Warp Speed Chief Operating Officer Gen. Gustave Perna pressing the federal government to distribute "reserved doses" of the vaccine to states that need them.

Finally, new figures from the Labor Department show that United States employers shed jobs last month for the first time since the height of the pandemic in April. About 140,000 jobs were lost, The AP reported, clear evidence the economy is faltering as the viral pandemic tightens its grip on consumers and businesses.

At the same time, the unemployment rate stayed at 6.7 percent, the first time it hasn't fallen since April.

Newest Numbers

At least 1,598 deaths and 196,592 new cases of coronavirus were reported in the United States on Sunday as of 3:30 p.m. ET, according to a Washington Post database. The Post's reporting shows that over the past week, new daily cases increased by 23.2 percent, new daily deaths rose by 17.9 percent and new coronavirus-related hospitalizations increased by 5.3 percent.

Currently, more than 130,777 people are hospitalized with a coronavirus-related illness in the United States, according to the Covid Tracking Project.

As of Sunday, 47 states and Puerto Rico remained above the positive testing rate recommended by the World Health Organization to safely reopen. Only Vermont, Hawaii, Alaska, and the District of Columbia are currently below that rate. To safely reopen, the WHO recommends states remain at 5 percent or lower for at least 14 days.

As of Sunday afternoon, the United States had reported more than 22.2 million cases and more than 373,500 deaths from COVID-19-related illnesses, according to a tally by Johns Hopkins University.

Stay up to date on the latest coronavirus news via The New York Times or Washington Post.

Read More From Across America

• 2 More Cases Of Coronavirus Variant Reported In Colorado
• First Case Of UK Coronavirus Variant Found On Long Island
  
• MA Adds 7K+ Coronavirus Cases, 90 Deaths: Health Officials
  
• Coronavirus Vaccine Expands To NY Elderly, Teachers
  
• NJ Coronavirus, Vaccine Updates: Here's What You Need To Know
  
• New Coronavirus Cases Remain High In Virginia After 1-Day Spike
• Whitmer Wants Michigan K-12 Schools Open By March 1: AP
• Santa Monica Firefighters Receive Coronavirus Vaccines
  
• AZ High School Winter Sports Canceled As Coronavirus Surges