CDC: So-Called British COVID-19 Variant Now Most Common in US
Voice of America
U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Rochelle Walensky said Wednesday the highly contagious B.1.1.7 variant originally identified in Britain is now the most common strain of the virus that causes COVID-19 circulating in the United States.
During the White House COVID-19 response team briefing, Walensky said the variant has been shown to be more transmissible and infectious among younger Americans, which she says contributed to rising case counts in recent weeks. The CDC director said the latest figures show the U.S. seven-day daily case average rose by 2.3% from the previous seven days to 62,878 per day. She also said there are reports of clusters of cases associated with day care centers and youth sports across the country. Hospital admissions have also been up by about 2.7% per day over the last week. Walensky said they are seeing more and more younger adults, those in their 30s and 40s, admitted with severe cases of the disease.FILE - U.S. Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart, a Republican from Florida, speaks on Capitol Hill in Washington, Feb. 14, 2017. FILE - A migrant from China identifies himself to a U.S. Border Patrol agent after surrendering with a group that was smuggled across the Rio Grande into the United States from Mexico, in Fronton, Texas, April 4, 2023.
FILE - A customer makes a sports bet at the Borgata casino in Atlantic City N.J. on March 17, 2022 just before the March Madness NCAA college basketball tournament began. FILE - Fox Sports broadcaster Greg Olsen retrieves his receipt after placing the first ceremonial bet in North Carolina during a DraftKings event celebrating the launch of mobile and online sports wagering, March 11, 2024, in Charlotte, N.C.
This undated photo shows a mouse feeding on the head of a wandering albatross chick on Marion Island, South Africa. Mice are breeding out of control because of climate change, eating seabirds and causing major harm in a special nature reserve. (Stefan and Janine Schoombie via AP) This undated photo shows two wandering albatrosses on Marion Island, part of the Prince Edwards Islands, a South African territory in the southern Indian Ocean near Antarctica. (Anton Wolfaardt via AP) This undated photo shows a house mouse on Marion Island, South Africa. (Stefan and Janine Schoombie via AP) This undated photo shows a research base on Marion Island, South Africa. (Anton Wolfaardt via AP)
Patients can enter the Alliance Healthcare System hospital in Holly Springs, Mississippi, only through the emergency room and the small admittance office at the side after the facility transitioned to a rural emergency hospital. Alliance Healthcare System hospital CEO Kenneth Williams said on Feb. 29, 2024, that after the Holly Springs, Mississippi, facility was approved as a rural emergency hospital in March 2023, the federal government later reneged on its decision, saying the hospital is not rural,