The WHO warns that a new variant of COVID-19, which is resistant to vaccines and previous infections, has been detected across almost every US state. Called Mu, the B.1.621 variant was first detected in Colombia in January this year. As of September 4, cases of the strain have been reported in 47 US states and the District of Columbia, Newsweek was first to report. The only states without reported cases are Nebraska, Vermont, and South Dakota, according to Outbreak.info’s data.
The MU variant has already spread to 41 different countries including the United States
The two states with the highest number of cases are Florida and California, which have reported 384 variant cases. The County of Los Angeles reported nearly half the cases in California with 167. Alaska previously had the highest number of MU variant cases with 146. This represented four percent of all recorded MU variants in isolated states. Other U.S. states have also shared their MU numbers, with 42 in Maine, 73 in Connecticut, and 39 in Hawaii, according to Newsweek.
The director of LA County Public Health, Barbara Ferrer said in a statement: “The identification of variants like Mu and then spreading across the globe highlights the need for L.A. county residents to continue protecting themselves.” This is what makes getting vaccinated and layering protections so important. These are actions that break the chain of transmission, which limits COVID-19 proliferation, allowing for it to mutate into something more dangerous in order to survive against its current threats.
Dr. Anthony Fauci also commented on the Mu variant, claiming that it would not be the next dominant COVID strain. ‘Even though it has not in essence taken hold to any extent here we always pay attention to at all times variants,’ he said. ‘We don’t consider it an immediate threat right now.’
The variant has been further described by Fauci as ‘a constellation of mutations that suggest it would evade certain antibodies, not only monoclonal antibodies but vaccine and convalescent serum-induced antibodies.’ The peak of Mu variant cases was present in mid-July and has been declining since. The fear is that the variant will strengthen again in the future. The nation has eclipsed an average of 1,500 COVID-19 deaths per day for the first time in six months since vaccinations began.
Figures from Johns Hopkins University released early Tuesday showed that the US has recorded 40,018,318 cases of COVID since the pandemic began, with 647,072 people known to have lost their lives as a result. The 1,500 figure was last reached in March. At that time, vaccines were not as widely available compared to now. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) also report that deaths increased by 131 percent in August compared to previous months.
The Labor Day holiday weekend saw 19 cases of COVID so far this year, 300% higher than the same time period last year. There is no vaccine currently available for COVID-19. Nationwide, the number of COVID-19 patients admitted to hospitals has doubled in August compared with June. The rise in deaths corresponds with a rise in hospitalizations. More than 102,000 Americans are hospitalized with the virus, and 75 percent of hospital beds nationwide are currently in use.
The COVID-19 virus has infected over 40 million people nationwide and caused 648,000 deaths here in the US.