The first person infected in the US with the British variant of covid-19 has no travel history | Univision Health News

#He is a young man in his twenties, currently isolated in #Elbert #County, 50 miles southeast of #Denver, #Colorado, said the governor of that state, #Jared #Polis, in a #Twitter post.

“The individual has no identified close contacts so far, but public health officials are working to identify other cases and potential contacts through in-depth contact tracing interviews,” #Polis said.

A federal scientist familiar with the research quoted by the newspaper The #Washington #Post #He said the man’s lack of known travels, in contrast to most confirmed cases of infections outside the UK, indicates that this is probably not an isolated case.

“#We can expect it to be detected elsewhere,” said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the broader context of the announcement.

#Elizabeth #Carlton, an associate professor of environmental and occupational health at the #Colorado #School of #Public #Health, also consulted by the #Post, said that the absence of a travel history of the infected person suggests that “it cannot be the only case” in the state.

“There is much we do not know about this new variant of covid-19, but scientists in the UK have warned the world that it is much more contagious. The health and safety of the people of #Colorado are our priority and we will be very attentive to this case, as well as all the indicators of covid-19, “added #Governor #Polis.

The governor and state health officials are scheduled to hold a press conference on #Wednesday to expand the information on this case.

#This month, the #British #Government announced that it had detected a new strain of #Covid-19 that appears to be 70% more contagious and it could be linked to the increase in infections that has occurred in #London and south-east #England since mid-November.

#Vaccines currently being applied against the coronavirus are believed to be effective against the variant as well, #Colorado health officials reported in a news release.

The new strain has been detected in at least 17 countries around the world and, a week ago, the director of the US #Center for #Allergy and #Infectious #Diseases, #Anthony #Fauci, warned that the variant could already be in the US.

#While the variant seems to spread more easily, does not make people sicker or more likely to dieUK scientists reported #Monday night.

There is also no sign that people who were infected months ago with the coronavirus are more likely to be re-infected if exposed to the variant, according to the report by #Public #Health #England, a #British government agency.

The detection of the first case of this strain in #Colorado coincides with an increase in hospitalizations in the #United #States, which this #Tuesday registered a new record of 124,235 patients admitted for the disease, of which 22,838 are in intensive care units, according to the platform The #Covid #Tracking #Project.

#Due to the discovery of the new variant, the CDC issued new rules on #Christmas #Day for people arriving in the #United #States from the #United #Kingdom, requiring that show evidence of a negative covid-19 test.