The UK variant of the COVID-19 virus is spreading throughout the United States at an exponential factor of two every 10 days, according to a study carried out at the Scripps Research Institute in La Jolla, California.
Researchers wrote in their findings, released Sunday on the preprint server MedRxiv, that the spread of the UK variant (B.1.1.7), believed to have arrived in the US in November 2020, has doubled in frequency approximately every week and a half.
“We found that while the fraction of B.1.1.7 among SGTF samples varied by state, detection of the variant increased at a logistic rate similar to those observed elsewhere, with a doubling rate of a little over a week and an increased transmission rate of 35-45 percent,” the researchers wrote, noting the UK variant had spread to “at least 30 states” by January 2021.
“Our study shows that the US is on a similar trajectory as other countries where B.1.1.7 rapidly became the dominant SARS-CoV-2 variant, requiring immediate and decisive action to minimize COVID-19 morbidity and mortality.”
The researchers predicted in their findings that B.1.1.7 could become the most prevalent in the US by March 2021.
