New COVID-19 variant spreads to dozens of countries [View all]

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Source: National Public Radio

The coronavirus variant that was first spotted last month in the U.K. has now spread to dozens of countries,

Researchers say the new variant -- dubbed B.1.1.7 -- probably originated in the South East region of England in September, before being detected there in November. According to a new report from Imperial College London, Britain's November lockdown did little to curb its spread, which was most prevalent in young people under 20 years old. The World Health Organization says the new variant is responsible for more than half of new infections in the U.K.

The variant is now in dozens of countries, including the United States, where it's been confirmed to have infected people in Colorado, California and Florida. Europe is riddled with the variant, which has been reported in Belgium, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland. It has also been detected in Asia, Australia, the Middle East and South America.

The good news is that the new variant doesn't appear to be more deadly. But it is much more contagious -- researchers are still trying to determine exactly how much more, but many have estimated it could be 50 percent more transmissible than the original strain. That may be because it leads to an increased viral load inside a person's nose or respiratory tract -- and so it gets dispersed more easily when people talk or cough. Another theory is that the new variant binds to human cells more easily.

Read more: https://www.mprnews.org/story/2021/01/02/npr-new-covid-19-variant-spreads-to-dozens-of-countries

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Ughh. Key quotes from above:

"The World Health Organization says the new variant is responsible for more than half of new infections in the U.K."

"Britain's November lockdown did little to curb its spread"

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The U.K. now has a higher daily new cases per capita than the U.S. 69 vs. 59 per 100K population.

Color-coded map of the countries of the world -- U.S. and U.K. are among a handful of "burgundy" countries (the worst) in average daily new cases per capita. Hover your mouse over a country to see its average new cases and average new cases per 100k and 14 day trend.
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/world/coronavirus-maps.html

Followed by a table.

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U.K. daily new cases up 91% in 14 days (7 day average on Jan 1 vs. 7 day average on December 18).
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/world/europe/united-kingdom-coronavirus-cases.html