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Fauci says U.K. variant may account for up to 30% of U.S. coronavirus infections

20 March 2021
Dan Ackermann

The coronavirus variant first discovered in the United Kingdom may account for up to 30% of new COVID infections across the U.S., NIAID Director Anthony Fauci said during a White House briefing on the virus Friday.

Why it matters: The variant, called B.1.1.7, has been detected throughout the U.S., and studies have suggested it appears to spread more easily than the original strain of the virus.

Context: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention warned in January that the B.1.1.7 variant could become the dominant strain of the virus in the U.S. this month.

  • The news comes after multiple states across the country have relaxed or rolled back their coronavirus restrictions.

What he's saying: "This variant, as you know, is everyday getting more and more dominant in our own country," Fauci said. “We’re at a position right now where we have a plateauing at around 53,000 cases per day."

  • “The concern is that throughout the country there are a number of states, cities, regions that are pulling back on some of the mitigation methods that we’ve been talking about: the withdrawal of mask mandates, the pulling back to essentially non-public health measures being implemented," he added.
  • Fauci said the best way to counter the variant is to get as many people vaccinated as quickly as possible while maintaining public health measure to prevent the spread of the virus.

The big picture: Multiple European countries are currently managing a surge of cases as a result of variants.

  • Italy entered another lockdown this week that is expected to last at least through Easter weekend.
  • Regions across France, including Paris, entered month-long lockdown on Friday.
  • German Health Minister Jens Spahn warned Friday that COVID-19 cases are spiking at an "exponential rate" in the country and there may not be enough vaccine doses available to avoid a third wave.

Michael Osterholm, director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy at the University of Minnesota, said last week he believes the U.S. could face another surge from the B.1.1.7 variant.

Transcripts show George Floyd told police "I can't breathe" over 20 times

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Newly released transcripts of bodycam footage from the Minneapolis Police Department show that George Floyd told officers he could not breathe more than 20 times in the moments leading up to his death.

Why it matters: Floyd's killing sparked a national wave of Black Lives Matter protests and an ongoing reckoning over systemic racism in the United States. The transcripts "offer one the most thorough and dramatic accounts" before Floyd's death, The New York Times writes.

The state of play: The transcripts were released as former officer Thomas Lane seeks to have the charges that he aided in Floyd's death thrown out in court, per the Times. He is one of four officers who have been charged.

  • The filings also include a 60-page transcript of an interview with Lane. He said he "felt maybe that something was going on" when asked if he believed that Floyd was having a medical emergency at the time.

What the transcripts say:

  • Floyd told the officers he was claustrophobic as they tried to get him into the squad car.
  • The transcripts also show Floyd saying, "Momma, I love you. Tell my kids I love them. I'm dead."
  • Former officer Derek Chauvin, who had his knee on Floyd's neck for over eight minutes, told Floyd, "Then stop talking, stop yelling, it takes a heck of a lot of oxygen to talk."

Read the transcripts via DocumentCloud.