FACT BRIEF

Do new coronavirus variants present higher risks of transmission, both indoors and out?

Friday, April 2, 2021

By Stevie Rosignol-Cortez

Copy link

Copy featured image

YES

More easily transmitted variants of the coronavirus pose greater overall risks.

Research from the Centers for Disease Control and Johns Hopkins shows that some new strains of the coronavirus, the most common being B.1.1.7 and B.1.351, are more transmissible and warrant more stringent precautions against their spread. As the original virus and its variants still have many common characteristics, both remain more easily transmitted indoors than out. The same measures—masks, distancing, hand hygiene—remain important to slow their spread.

Research from the CDC suggests that the B.1.1.7 strain, currently the variant of most concern in the U.S., is associated with increased mortality. The new strains may also be more resistant to treatment, and more able to evade natural or vaccine-induced immunity.

This fact brief is responsive to conversations such as this one.

Sources

Centers for Disease Control Science Brief: Emerging coronavirus variants

Centers for Disease Control Report on B.117 emergence in 12 states (Jan. 22, 2021)

Johns Hopkins New variants of coronavirus: What you should know

Centers for Disease Control US COVID-19 cases caused by variants (April 1, 2021)

ABOUT THE CONTRIBUTOR

Gigafact

Between 2020 and 2022, under close editorial supervision, Gigafact contracted a group of freelance writers and editors to test the concepts for fact briefs and provide inputs to our software development process. We call this effort Gigafact Foundry. Over the course of these two years, Gigafact Foundry writers published over 1500 fact briefs in response to claims they found online. Their important work forms the basis of Gigafact formats and editorial guidelines, and is available to the public on Gigafact.org. Readers should be aware that while there is still a lot of relevant information to be found, not all fact briefs produced by Gigafact Foundry reflect Gigafact's current methods and standards for fact briefs. If you come across any that you feel are out of date and need to be looked at with fresh eyes, don't hesitate to contact us at support@gigafact.org.

FACT BRIEF BY

Latest fact briefs

About fact briefs published on Gigafact

Fact briefs are short, credibly sourced summaries that offer “yes/no” answers in response to claims found online. They rely on publicly available, often primary source data and documents. Fact briefs are created by contributors to Gigafact —a nonprofit project looking to expand participation in fact-checking and protect the democratic process. See all fact briefs here.