Fauci warns new mutation may cause virus to spread more easily

“The data is showing there’s a single mutation that makes the virus be able to replicate better and maybe have high viral loads,” Fauci said.

“[I]t just seems that the virus replicates better and may be more transmissible,” he continued.

The study, which was released by researchers affiliated with the Sheffield COVID-19 Genomics Group, stated Thursday that the new strain “has become the most prevalent form in the global pandemic.”

“The shift occurred even in local epidemics where the original [strain of the virus] was well established prior to the introduction of the G614 variant,” the scientists wrote in their abstract, referring to the strain of coronavirus thought to have originated in Wuhan, China.