'Safe to assume' new COVID variant is all over the U.S., says Dr. Sell

With the first US case of a new more contagious variant of coronavirus first reported in the UK, there are likely more cases across the country than currently being reported, according to Dr. Tara Kirk Sell of Johns Hopkins University.

“Definitely,” said Dr. Sell Monday morning in an interview with The National Desk anchor Jan Jeffcoat. “I think it’s pretty safe to assume that this variant is in multiple regions of the country.”

The UK is outpacing the US currently in genetic sequencing of virus samples, with just 0.3 percent of cases analyzed for variants, according to data from the GISAID Initiative.

The US currently ranks 43rd in percentage of cases sequenced among countries with more than 100 reported infections, while the UK is ranked 8th.

What it basically means is that the U.S. does not currently sequence coronavirus samples at the same urgency and quantity as other countries like the U.K.

“It’s not really surprising that the virus was found there first. It’s really important that we do more sequencing to monitor what’s happening with the virus,” said Dr. Sell.

The new variant, which was first confirmed in Colorado Tuesday, is believed to be as much as 70% more contagious.

“The news that a potentially increased transmission is occurring is really concerning,” said Dr. Sell. “It’s pretty difficult to stop the spread of COVID-19, so this will just make it harder,”

Scientists say they have uncovered 17 changes in the new variant, most occurring on the spike protein.

“This many mutations is quite a lot,” said Dr. Sell. “One of the leading theories is that for individuals who have had COVID-19 for a long time, perhaps they’re immunocompromised, there’s a lot of opportunity for the virus to mutate over the long period of their illness.”