ABC News Turn on desktop notifications for breaking stories about interest? OffOn Even more variants may be identified in the coming weeks, experts said. • 6 min read Researchers at Ohio State identify 2 new COVID-19 variants Infectious disease specialist Dr. Todd Ellerin discusses the COVID-19 virus being "in full resurgence" in big cities. Joshua Roberts/Getty Images, FILE Two independent research groups published findings confirming what many scientists have long suspected: The U.S. has its own unique COVID-19 viral variants that are distinct from the U.K. and South African lineages making headlines in recent weeks. On Wednesday, researchers from the Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center announced two distinct, newly identified variants. The next day, researchers at Southern Illinois University said they found a variant that may have emerged months ago and quickly spread across the country. The variant is likely the same or similar to one of the variants identified by the Ohio researchers.