‘We’re In A Race Against Time’ As Mutations On The Rise

AP: A New COVID-19 Challenge: Mutations Rise Along With Cases
The race against the virus that causes COVID-19 has taken a new turn: Mutations are rapidly popping up, and the longer it takes to vaccinate people, the more likely it is that a variant that can elude current tests, treatments and vaccines could emerge. The coronavirus is becoming more genetically diverse, and health officials say the high rate of new cases is the main reason. Each new infection gives the virus a chance to mutate as it makes copies of itself, threatening to undo the progress made so far to control the pandemic. (Marchione, 1/19)

Stat: What We Now Know — And Don’t Know — About The Coronavirus Variants
The coronavirus variants are, in a word, confusing. By now, you have likely heard about different variants that first raised trouble in the United Kingdom, South Africa, Brazil, and now maybe California — though the jury is very much out on whether that last one is cause for concern. To make a messy alphabet soup even more jumbled, these variants have unwieldy names, and they each contain mutations with unwieldy names of their own. (Joseph, 1/19)

The Atlantic: The Coronavirus Variants Reveal A Troubling New Pattern
For most of 2020, the coronavirus that causes COVID-19 jumped from human to human, accumulating mutations at a steady rate of two per month—not especially impressive for a virus. These mutations have largely had little effect. But recently, three distinct versions of the virus seem to have independently converged on some of the same mutations, despite being thousands of miles apart in the United Kingdom, South Africa, and Brazil. (A mutation is a genetic change; a variant is a virus with a specific set of mutations.) The fact that these mutations have popped up not one, not two, but now three times—that we know of—in variants with unusual behavior suggests that they confer an evolutionary advantage to the virus. All three variants seem to be becoming more common. And all three are potentially more transmissible. (Zhang, 1/18)

Also —

Politico: New Coronavirus Variant Identified In German Hospital 
A new variant of the coronavirus has been identified in a hospital in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, a Bavarian ski town, local media reported Monday. Last Tuesday, the hospital discovered an "abnormality" for the first time in a coronavirus test device that indicated it was not one of the variants from the U.K., South Africa, or Brazil, said Clemens Stockklausner, deputy medical director at the hospital, during a press conference. (Gehrke, 1/18)

Bloomberg: South Africa’s New Virus Strain Is 50% More Infectious
South Africa’s genomic scientists have found the new coronavirus variant driving the country’s resurgence of new cases is about 50% more transmissible than earlier versions. The 501.V2 strain identified last month “can attach to human cells more efficiently” than its predecessors, Salim Abdool Karim, co-chair of the Covid-19 ministerial advisory committee, said in a presentation. However, data show it is not more likely to cause hospitalization or death, he said Monday. (Cele and Bowker, 1/18)

In news about the U.K. variant —

Stat: Coronavirus Variant Could Become Dominant Strain By March, CDC Warns
A new, more transmissible variant of the virus that causes Covid-19 could sweep the United States in coming weeks and become the dominant strain as soon as March, leading to a new surge of cases through the spring, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention warned Friday. The CDC believes the variant, known as B117, is still circulating at low levels in the U.S. Only 76 infections caused by the new variant have been detected, in 12 states, though testing for it has not been routinely conducted. (Branswell, 1/15)

The Hill: CDC: More Contagious COVID-19 Variant Could Be Dominant US Strain By March 
A more contagious variant of COVID-19 that originated in the United Kingdom could be the predominant strain in the U.S. by March, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) warned Friday. The new variant could threaten already strained health care resources, require extended and more rigorous use of public health strategies and increase the percentage of the population immunity needed for herd immunity, said authors of a CDC report. (Hellmann, 1/15)

Fox News: UK Coronavirus Variant Identified In Massachusetts For First Time
Massachusetts health officials on Sunday announced the state’s first known case of the more contagious coronavirus variant initially detected in the U.K, known as B.1.1.7. The mutated strain was detected in a female Boston resident in her 20s who had traveled to the U.K., according to a statement from the public health department. Though the woman tested negative before leaving the U.K., she became sick one day after her arrival in the U.S. and later tested positive. The CDC currently requires passengers traveling from the U.K. to the U.S. to provide negative COVID-19 test results within three days of travel. (As of Jan. 26, all international passengers flying into the United States will need to provide the same, per the CDC.) The statement did not specify when the woman was tested. (Rivas, 1/18)

Fox News: UK Coronavirus Variant Seen In Louisiana For First Time: Officials
Yet another state has identified its first case of the more contagious coronavirus variant known as B.1.1.7 that was first discovered in the United Kingdom late last year. Louisiana health officials over the weekend announced the state’s first case of the mutation, which was identified "in an individual in the Greater New Orleans area." No other details were provided. Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards urged state residents to "double down" on effective mitigation measures now that the state has identified its first case of the variant. (Farber, 1/18)

The New York Times: Inside The B.1.1.7 Coronavirus Variant 
At the heart of each coronavirus is its genome, a twisted strand of nearly 30,000 “letters” of RNA. These genetic instructions force infected human cells to assemble up to 29 kinds of proteins that help the coronavirus multiply and spread. As viruses replicate, small copying errors known as mutations naturally arise in their genomes. A lineage of coronaviruses will typically accumulate one or two random mutations each month. (Corum and Zimmer, 1/18)