JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Just as the country has watched confirmed cases of COVID-19 rise, there is now another number to watch for: cases of a new, more contagious variant. California had been the U.S. epicenter of the new strain -- now with 40 confirmed cases, according to the CDC -- but Florida has since eclipsed that. As of Sunday, according to the CDC, there were 122 confirmed cases of the new strain in the United States. Florida is now approaching 1.6 million confirmed cases, with more than 24,800 people in the state who have died related to the disease. Between limited testing and the variant being more than 50% more contagious than the original strain, Neilsen warns that the number of cases infecting people is much higher.