The highly contagious Coronavirus variant first identified in Britain likely accounts for up to 30 per cent of the confirmed cases in the US, Anthony Fauci, the country’s top infectious disease expert, said. The variant, called B.1.1.7, has been reported in at least 94 countries and detected in 50 jurisdictions in the US, Fauci said on Friday during a White House briefing on the pandemic.

He added that the numbers are likely growing. Fauci said the B.1.1.7 variant is 50 per cent more transmissible and likely to cause a more severe infection. “We’re at a position right now where we have a plateauing at around 53,000 cases per day,” he said.