Fauci said the new, fast-spreading UK coronavirus strain is likely already in the US

Dr. Anthony Fauci.

Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post via Getty

• Dr. Anthony Fauci told PBS NewsHour on Monday that he believes the new coronavirus strain circulating England may already be in the US.
• He also said he would advise against instituting a UK travel ban over the strain, as many other countries already have.
• Fauci told CNN "we don't want to overreact" but should "without a doubt keep an eye on it." 
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Dr. Anthony Fauci has said that he thinks the new, potentially more infectious coronavirus strain circulating the UK may already be in the US.

In an interview with PBS NewsHour on Monday, Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said that he would assume that the new strain identified in the UK is already in the US, given international travel. 

"I would not be surprised if it's already here," Fauci said. "When we start to look for it, we're going to find it." 

Former FDA chief Scott Gottlieb echoed the sentiment in an interview with CNBC, saying the new strain "is already in the US" and that the virus will continue to mutate until widespread vaccination puts an end to the pandemic.

An empty Regent Street in London, England. The UK imposed new coronavirus restrictions on London and southeast England over the new strain of the virus.

Xinhua/Han Yan via Getty

Fauci also said that he thinks a ban on travelers from the UK would be "premature," even as multiple countries have already taken that step.

He told CNN on Monday the US should "without a doubt keep an eye on" the new strain, but "we don't want to overreact."

He said he would advise against suspending UK flights if the matter came up at a White House coronavirus task force meeting.

"I don't think that that kind of a draconian approach is necessary," Fauci told PBS. "I think we should seriously consider the possibility of requiring testing of people before they come from the UK here. But I don't think that there is enough evidence right now to essentially lock down any travel from the UK."

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London and parts of southeast England were put under new coronavirus lockdown restrictions over the weekend after UK officials identified the new strain, which they said could be up to 70% more transmissible.

However, officials say there's nothing to suggest that the mutated version of the virus causes a more severe disease or is more deadly.

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