WEBVTT - What to Know About How the New COVID Variant Spreads

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<v Speaker 1>It's Tuesday, January five. I'm Oscar Emiras from the Daily

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<v Speaker 1>Dive podcast in Los Angeles, and this is reopening America.

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<v Speaker 1>The new variant of the coronavirus that was found in

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<v Speaker 1>the UK has now made its way into the US.

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<v Speaker 1>The mutated virus is more transmissible, but not more severe,

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<v Speaker 1>and has been found in Colorado, California, Florida, and most

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<v Speaker 1>recently New York. People infected with the new variant are

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<v Speaker 1>thought to have greater concentrations of the virus and their

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<v Speaker 1>noses and throats. A poor Va Mondavilli reporter at The

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<v Speaker 1>New York Times joins us for how COVID is spreading faster.

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<v Speaker 1>Thanks for joining us, Apporva, thanks for having me. We

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<v Speaker 1>are finding out a little bit more about this more

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<v Speaker 1>contagious variant of the coronavirus that begun circulating in the UK.

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<v Speaker 1>It's now in the United States, in Colorado, California, Florida,

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<v Speaker 1>and we just heard that the first case was found

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<v Speaker 1>in New York of this variant. Obviously this was coming

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<v Speaker 1>from the UK. They're imposing very strict lockdown rules because

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<v Speaker 1>of this, probably the most stricts since the whole pandemic

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<v Speaker 1>first began, So this new variant is becoming the predominant

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<v Speaker 1>form it already has in England, and they think that

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<v Speaker 1>will soon happen here in the United States as well.

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<v Speaker 1>So apt to help us walk through what we're learning

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<v Speaker 1>about this, why is this new variant more contagious? Let

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<v Speaker 1>me take a step back and say that there are

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<v Speaker 1>a lot of variants of this virus, and that's natural.

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<v Speaker 1>Any virus always picks up new mutations along the way.

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<v Speaker 1>What's concerning about this one is that it seems to

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<v Speaker 1>have picked up mutations one or more that make it

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<v Speaker 1>more transmissible. It spreads much better between people than previous versions.

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<v Speaker 1>So this is, you know, a huge worry because already

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<v Speaker 1>the numbers in the United States and everywhere else are

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<v Speaker 1>so horrible. The hospitals are already overflowing. And what we

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<v Speaker 1>don't know is exactly how much more transmissible this is.

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<v Speaker 1>There are some estimates, but we don't know exactly how

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<v Speaker 1>it became more transmissible. We don't know exactly how much,

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<v Speaker 1>but the numbers speak for themselves. Everywhere it has shown up,

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<v Speaker 1>the number of people infected has shot up really fast.

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<v Speaker 1>The early estimates said that it was maybe about more

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<v Speaker 1>transmissible others saying that could be about fifty but you're right,

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<v Speaker 1>we still have to kind of let it play out

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<v Speaker 1>unfortunately a little bit to see exactly where that goes.

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<v Speaker 1>One of the good things is that we're seeing is

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<v Speaker 1>that we don't think that it is any causes any

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<v Speaker 1>more severe complications. You know, people don't get any sicker

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<v Speaker 1>per se, but there will be more deaths just by

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<v Speaker 1>the fact that it is more transmissible. There's gonna be

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<v Speaker 1>more people getting sick and more people at risk of

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<v Speaker 1>worse symptoms. Yeah, and it's not just COVID, right, I mean,

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<v Speaker 1>there will definitely be more people who get sick from COVID,

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<v Speaker 1>more people who die from COVID, just because there are

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<v Speaker 1>more people getting infected, but also as hospitals continue to

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<v Speaker 1>stay overwhelmed and probably for much longer because of this

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<v Speaker 1>new variant, a lot of people who need care for

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<v Speaker 1>other things like cancer and diabetes and heart disease and

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<v Speaker 1>everything else, all of those people will all have to

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<v Speaker 1>wait for care and who knows how much damage we'll see,

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<v Speaker 1>you know, with those diseases. So some of the preliminary

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<v Speaker 1>evidence from Britain says that this new variant could infect

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<v Speaker 1>cells with greater efficiency, There could be more viral load

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<v Speaker 1>in people's noses and throats. It may not travel all

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<v Speaker 1>the way to the lungs, but if it stays in

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<v Speaker 1>the nose and throat, you know, when people are talking, sneezing, coughing,

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<v Speaker 1>all that, that's what makes it a little more transmissible.

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<v Speaker 1>You know, this is one of the possible things that

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<v Speaker 1>they're looking at. Right. It's a theory at this point still,

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<v Speaker 1>but it's one possible explanation for why you might be

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<v Speaker 1>seeing that people are more contagious but not getting sicker.

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<v Speaker 1>And as you pointed out, that could be because they

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<v Speaker 1>have more virus in their nose and throat, which makes

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<v Speaker 1>them more contagious, but it's not getting into their lungs,

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<v Speaker 1>so they're not getting as sick. But you know, we

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<v Speaker 1>don't know this for sure yet. There are some studies

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<v Speaker 1>that have shown there's some evidence that people who get

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<v Speaker 1>this variant um as opposed to other ones have a

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<v Speaker 1>higher viraul load, but we still need to see more

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<v Speaker 1>data on that. Yeah, one of the doctors that you

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<v Speaker 1>spoke to put it pretty accurately. It seems like currently

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<v Speaker 1>risky activities become more risky with this new variant, and

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<v Speaker 1>that's why we're seeing lockdowns in the UK, we're seeing

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<v Speaker 1>more talk about other modified lockdowns in the United States,

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<v Speaker 1>because they're just trying to shut it down as best

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<v Speaker 1>they could. And it proves the point really that you know,

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<v Speaker 1>you should still continue the social distancing, the mask wearing,

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<v Speaker 1>all the precautions we've been hearing to avoid these risky

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<v Speaker 1>behaviors in every other way that doesn't have to do

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<v Speaker 1>with that greater transmissibility. This variant is behaving exactly like

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<v Speaker 1>the previous versions, So it's all the same precautionary measures

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<v Speaker 1>that we already know work. Wearing a mask, washing our hands,

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<v Speaker 1>making sure that the rooms are well ventilated, or that

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<v Speaker 1>we're only interacting outdoors. All of those things will still help,

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<v Speaker 1>but we'll need to follow those things much more strictly,

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<v Speaker 1>much more rigorously than we have been, And that's kind

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<v Speaker 1>of a depressing thought. And also you wonder how well

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<v Speaker 1>will we do that people are already unwilling to follow

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<v Speaker 1>those guidelines and are sick of the pandemic. How open

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<v Speaker 1>will they be to even stricter guidelines and lockdowns given

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<v Speaker 1>where we are as a country. Yeah, that's definitely going

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<v Speaker 1>to be a tough fight. I wanted to return back

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<v Speaker 1>to the mutations that we were talking about the very beginning.

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<v Speaker 1>We know all viruses mutate as they go along. This

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<v Speaker 1>variant that has popped up right now has twenty three mutations.

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<v Speaker 1>They say, seventeen of those appeared very suddenly. But just

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<v Speaker 1>talk about how this process plays out and what we're

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<v Speaker 1>finding out about this variant. Yeah, I mean, as you

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<v Speaker 1>pointed out, there are twenty three mutations compared to the

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<v Speaker 1>original strain in Wuhan, the original variant, but since then,

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<v Speaker 1>you know, it's picked up a lot of mutations. As

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<v Speaker 1>I mentioned, there are a lot of different variants. The

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<v Speaker 1>thing that's really strange about this one is how many

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<v Speaker 1>it has compared to the most recent version of it,

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<v Speaker 1>and eight of those are in a part of the

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<v Speaker 1>virus that all of the vaccines are designed against. So

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<v Speaker 1>that's a little bit of a concern, and one of

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<v Speaker 1>one set of mutations in particular, has been shown now

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<v Speaker 1>to actually decrease how well the virus response to the

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<v Speaker 1>immune response created by the vaccines. It's not that the

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<v Speaker 1>vaccines won't work, but they will be a little bit

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<v Speaker 1>less effective. And so the worry now is that if

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<v Speaker 1>you have this variant spreading among people really fast. Every

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<v Speaker 1>single person that infects is an opportunity for it to

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<v Speaker 1>collect more mutations, and if it collects even more mutations

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<v Speaker 1>that make the vaccines even less effective, that's going to

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<v Speaker 1>be a problem. Well, one year into this whole thing,

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<v Speaker 1>the coronavirus continues, the pandemic continues to move very fast,

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<v Speaker 1>so we'll have to keep monitoring how this variant changes things,

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<v Speaker 1>if anything. A Porva Mondavelli, reporter at the New York Times,

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<v Speaker 1>thank you very much for joining us, Thanks for having me.

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<v Speaker 1>I'm ascar Emiras and this has been opening America. Don't

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<v Speaker 1>forget the effort today's big news stories. You can check

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<v Speaker 1>me out on the Daily Dive podcast every Monday through Friday.

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