Covid variant not found in US, says CDC amid calls to shut down UK flights
The mutated Covid-19 variant has not been found in the United States but it could already be circulating in the country undetected, according to the Centres for Disease Control.
In an update on the variant known as VUI 202012/01, the CDC said sequencing efforts have not identified the virus mutation but that travel between the United Kingdom and the US made it likely it has already arrived or could soon be imported.
“Although viruses have only been sequenced from about 51,000 of the 17 million US cases,” the CDC said in an update posted to its website.
“Given the small fraction of US infections that have been sequenced, the variant could already be in the United States without having been detected.”
It comes amid calls to shut down travel between the two countries as borders close between the UK and other parts of the world.
While New York governor Andrew Cuomo has called for a ban on travel or compulsory testing of passengers from across the pond into JFK Airport, the US has not issued a blanket embargo on travelers as of Tuesday morning.
Mr Cuomo said he believed “intuitively” the new strain was already in the US, and if it wasn’t already here was on its way.
"That variant is getting on a plane and landing in JFK, and all it takes is one person," New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said in a statement.
More than a dozen countries have banned travel from the UK, including Canada, Hong Kong, India, Israel, Russia, Turkey, Argentina, and much of Europe.
From Tuesday, British Airways requires travellers from the UK to the US to show a negative Covid test before departure.
Starting tomorrow @British_Airways will require passengers on UK flights to NY to show a negative COVID test before departure.
We are in conversations with Delta and Virgin Atlantic to do the same.
We can't let history repeat itself with this new virus variant.— Andrew Cuomo (@NYGovCuomo) December 21, 2020
