US reports nearly 4K Covid variant cases

Washington: The US has registered nearly 4,000 confirmed cases of coronavirus variants, according to latest data by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

The vast majority of these cases, 3,701, were caused by the variant known as B.1.1.7, which was originally detected in Britain late last year, Xinhua news agency reported citing the data issued on Friday.

There were 108 cases of a new strain initially discovered in South Africa, called B.1.351, and 17 cases of the P.1 strain detected in Brazil.

The cases identified are based on a sampling of SARS-CoV-2-positive specimens and do not represent the total number of variants infection cases that may be circulating in the US, according to the CDC.

Modelling data suggest that B.1.1.7 could become the predominant variant in the US by the end of this month.

In its latest update on Saturday morning, the Johns Hopkins University revealed that the US' caseload and death toll currently stood at 29,343,530 and 532,400, respectively.