Michigan and New Jersey have the highest rates of coronavirus infection in the United States. It appears that the United Kingdom variant of the virus, which is more infectious, is at least partially to blame.
In Michigan, the seven-day average of new cases is 452.5 per 100,000 people, while in New Jersey, it is 344.
There have been a reported 12,505 confirmed cases across the U.S. of the U.K. variant. Michigan accounts for 1,637 of those, second only to Florida’s 3,191. On a population basis, Michigan is first at 16.5 cases of the so-called B.1.1.7 variant per 100,000 population.
New Jersey also has confirmed 627 B.1.1.7 cases, a rate of 7.1 per 100,000.
The surest sign that the U.K. variant is at least partially responsible for the Michigan and New Jersey cases is the spread among young people. People under age 18 accounted for few cases of the original virus, but B.1.1.7 appears to be more transmissible among youth, experts warn.
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“Please understand, this B.1.1.7 variant is a brand-new ballgame,” said Michael Osterholm, director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy at the University of Minnesota, told NBC’s Meet the Press, adding: “It infects kids very readily. Unlike previous strains of the virus, we didn’t see children under eighth grade get infected often, or they were not frequently very ill, they didn’t transmit to the rest of the community.”
According to the website Bridge Michigan, COVID-19 infection among those aged 10-19 increased 117% in the first three weeks of March. That age group also comprised 17% infections across all age groups, nearly double what it was in early March.
In New Jersey, those aged 5-17 now account for 9.3% of all COVID-19 cases. Last summer, they accounted for only 2.4%.
Researchers at Rutgers University recently developed a new test that can more quickly identify coronavirus variants. Using that test, Newark has found that almost half of its recent COVID-19 cases are due to the U.K. variant.
The number of B.1.1.7 cases in New Jersey may be worse than the numbers show because until recently, the state lacked the means to do extensive genetic sequencing, the testing necessary to determine if a COVID-19 case is caused by a variant.
New Jersey has not had enough laboratory capacity for large-scale genetic sequencing. By late February, the state had genetically sequenced only 171 COVID-19 samples. Michigan, by contrast, had a state laboratory in North Lansing equipped to conduct genetic sequencing before the pandemic started. It is able to examine 500 to 600 samples per week.
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Not only is the U.K. variant more transmissible, it also has a 40% to 60% increased risk of hospitalization and death. Although that looks alarming, most people who contract the virus do not die or end up in the hospital. Additionally, vaccines have proven quite effective against B.1.1.7. With nearly one-third of the U.S. population having received at least one dose of the vaccine, the current surge may not prove as severe as previous ones.
