Fauci says the new, fast-spreading UK coronavirus strain is likely already in the US

Fauci says the new, fast-spreading UK coronavirus strain is likely already in the US The UK placed millions of people under new restrictions this past weekend over fears of a new virus strain that is thought to be more transmissible. YahooNews

• Dr. Anthony Fauci told "PBS NewsHour" on Monday that he thought the new coronavirus strain circulating in England might already be in the US.

• He also said he would advise against instituting a UK travel ban over the strain, as many other countries already had.

• Fauci told CNN "we don't want to overreact" but should "without a doubt keep an eye on it." 

•  

Dr. Anthony Fauci has said he thinks the new, potentially more infectious coronavirus strain circulating in the UK may already be in the US.

In an interview with "PBS NewsHour" on Monday, Fauci, the director of the US National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said he would assume the new strain identified in the UK was already in the US, given international travel.

"I would not be surprised if it's already here," Fauci said. "When we start to look for it, we're going to find it."

Scott Gottlieb, the former commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration, echoed the sentiment in an interview with CNBC, saying that the new strain "is already in the US" and that the virus would continue to mutate until widespread vaccination put an end to the pandemic. ...

ALSO SEE: New COVID-19 strain spreads to Italy, Denmark, Netherlands