The coronavirus variant has officially arrived in Mass. Here’s why you should be concerned. - The Boston Globe

A new coronavirus variant has officially arrived in Massachusetts, public health officials said over the weekend.

The Massachusetts Department of Public Health announced Sunday that the first case had been detected in the state.

Governor Charlie Baker said two weeks ago there was no reason not to believe the variant was already in the state.

Experts and officials believe it could well be the beginning of a tsunami of cases.

It’s going to beat out the other one,” Dr.

The experts say the new variant does not cause more severe illness, which is welcome news.

But the problem is that if the disease spreads to a much larger number of people, a larger number of people will become hospitalized and die?

“We shouldn’t be lulled into complacency and say, `Well, maybe it’s more transmissible, but it isn’t a more serious disease.’ Well, the more people that get infected, quantitatively, the more people that are going to get hospitalized.

And quantitatively, the more people that get hospitalized, the more people are going to be seriously ill and die,” Dr.

“The more people you get infected, the more serious situation you’re going to be in,” Fauci, who has been tapped to serve as chief medical adviser in the Biden administration, said in an interview with Harvard Business Review that was livestreamed as part of the HBR Now series.

Experts and officials say that the variant can be stopped by the same precautionary measures that people are already taking.

“Once it’s here, it’s going to spread,” said Landrigan.

...People are going to have to be even more conscientious about doing those things.”?

Landrigan said state officials should also carefully monitor whether bars, restaurants, and public gatherings are adding the spread of the virus.

The vaccines appear as of now appear to protect against the variant so it’s “important that we increase the supply and distribution as quickly as possible,” said Sax.

Ashish Jha, dean of the Brown University School of Public Health, told the Globe last week, “There is every reason to believe [the variant] is going to cause a huge spike in cases.”.

Scientists say the UK variant may not be the only problem variant to emerge

The longer it takes to vaccinate people, the more likely it is that a variant could emerge that can elude current tests, treatments, and vaccines, The Associated Press reported