The U.S. is playing a “whole new ballgame” in terms of controlling the coronavirus now that variants are spreading across the country, Michael Osterholm, director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy at the University of Minnesota, told CBS News on Friday.
Why it matters: Osterholm said the U.S. could face another surge from the B.1.1.7 variant, which was first identified in the United Kingdom and has since been detected throughout the U.S. Multiple studies have suggested that it likely spreads more easily than the original strain of the virus.
What they’re saying: “We are, I think for the moment, in the eye of a hurricane with regard to the good news, the vaccine’s coming, but the big challenge [is] with this new variant that has arrived here from Europe,” Osterholm told CBS News. Continue reading.