Thread by @alexandraphelan

I disagree with folks dismissing the implications of the UK variant of concern.

While individual behaviors to avoid transmission may not change, the impact at the population level is serious: hospitals are already at capacity.

Quick thread
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Any factor that ramps up transmission (biological or behavioral) amplifies cases, and as a result, severe cases and deaths. When hospitals hit capacity, cases that could have been treated successfully will be triaged along increasingly stringent crisis standards of care.
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At the population level, this also impacts government responses about control measures, which impacts now & future justifications
Short thread on that here:
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https://twitter.com/alexandraphelan/status/1340769941323194369?s=20

In addition, this changes the game for reporting future outbreaks. The travel bans imposed on the UK risk delaying future variant reporting around the world (even if there's other public health justifications to slow spread of the variant) –which is a public health issue too
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Fundamentally (regardless of the new variant) we need US governments to be adopting immediate control measures with economic supports. Congress' funding was woefully inadequate. In this gap, where no action is being taken, a more transmissible variant in US would be a disaster /5

Adding to this a really important and useful thread by @trvrb

https://twitter.com/trvrb/status/1341446447045087232