Friday's Afternoon Update | 1/22/2021 More-contagious COVID-19 variant is spreading in Florida. What does it mean? About 10 months into the COVID-19 pandemic, a more contagious variant of the virus first detected in the United Kingdom could soon become the dominant virus in the U.S. — and more cases have been reported in Florida than anywhere else in the country, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Health experts say the variant is likely already more common here than the CDC has yet detected, due to the amount of community transmission already occurring throughout Florida, and the nationwide lack of robust surveillance of various strands of the virus. More from the Orlando Sentinel.