In the state of Colorado, experts first identified the carrier of a new strain of coronavirus, which was previously detected in the UK. This was announced by the governor of the state Jared Polis in his Twitter -account.
As noted by The Washington Post , this is the first known case in the United States infection with the “British” coronavirus. At the same time, the infected person has not traveled anywhere recently.
The infected person also has not had close contacts recently, but now experts are working to identify other potential cases and contacts with the infected.
Currently, a new type of coronavirus has been detected in no less than 17 countries outside the UK. In North America, the first case of infection with a new strain was detected in Canada on December 26.
A dangerous mutation of the coronavirus was first discovered in the UK in September, but it began to spread actively in December. The British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said that the new strain could be 70 percent more contagious. The mutation affected the area of the spike protein on the surface of the coronavirus, which is responsible for attachment to cells located in the mucous membrane of the lungs and a number of other organs.