A new variant of the coronavirus AY.4.2, which was previously found in the UK, was recorded in the United States. This was announced by the head of the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Rochelle Walenski, RIA Novosti reports.
It is clarified that the new COVID-19 strain has not raised any concerns so far. The main strain in the United States remains “delta”, which is detected in 99.7 percent of cases.
“We see it periodically here in the United States, but we are not currently seeing an increase in its number or the emergence of its clusters,” Walenski said when asked about AY.4.2.
Earlier, British virologists revealed details about the new strain of coronavirus. According to them, AY.4.2 is more infectious than previous variants of the infection. Scientists believe that AY.4.2, which originated in Britain, is 10-15 percent more infectious than the “delta” strain of coronavirus, which remains the most common in the world.
It was reported that a new variation of the coronavirus is observed only in the UK, where about ten percent of all patients with COVID-19 in the country were infected with it. However, a case of AY.4.2 has already been reported in Israel. The new strain was found in an eleven-year-old boy who returned from abroad.
