According to county officials, the first case of a COVID-19 variant that is said to be more contagious in Dallas County was identified.
Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins said Saturday that the variant was identified in a 20-year-old Dallas man who had no recent history of travel outside the U.S. The man is stable and isolated.
The health department works to identify and notify anyone who has close contact with the man.
Jenkins said genetic sequencing showed the infection was caused by the variant. It is the third case in Texas caused by the variant and the first in North Texas.
The other two cases were reported in Harris County and Nueces County.
“The emergence of the B.1.1.7 strain, although inevitable given the mobility of the modern world and the fact that we are an important transportation hub, means that there is a strain that is 70% more contagious in the our community and will grow rapidly, “Jenkins said in a written statement.
Dr. Steven Berk of the Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center, an infectious disease physician, joined NBC 5 to analyze the UK coronavirus variant.
The variant was first identified in the UK in September and health officials have said it appears to spread more easily and quickly than other variants, but it does not appear to cause more severe symptoms.
Currently approved vaccines are believed to be effective against the variant.
“This is the third case identified in Texas and we can assume that there are more cases in our community because of the nature of this variant and the speed with which it spreads,” said Dr. Philip Huang, director of the Department. of Dallas County Health and Human Services. we must remain vigilant in our fight against this virus and continue with all preventive and protective measures such as wearing a mask, washing our hands and physically distancing ourselves. “