Seven cases of India’s Double Mutant have been identified in Nevada. This mutant has been contributing to the devastating surge of COVID-19 in India.
Residents with cases of the variant “did not appear to have traveled,” said Heather Kerwin, epidemiology program manager for the Washoe County Health District. This indicates that there is community spread.
Mutations make the COVID Virus better able to evade the body’s immune defenses produced through immunization or prior infection. Early evidence indicates that vaccines still protect against it, though the level of protection might be somewhat lower, Mark Pandori, director of the Nevada State Public Laboratory at the University of Nevada, Reno School of Medicine. said.
Based on a CDC recommendation, the U.S. announced April 30, 2021 that starting May 4, 2021 it will restrict travel from India because of the sharp increases in cases and deaths there.
Since the mutations have already arrived, this is clearly too little too late. As long as residents vaccinate they could stop this virulent mutation from spreading. The variant has also been found in Michigan which is experiencing a huge spike in COVID Cases in recent weeks.
The variant has been identified in at least 17 countries, according to the World Health Organization.