The first case of a variant of COVID-19 initially found in the UK has been confirmed in Massachusetts, health officials said Sunday.
The individual, a Boston woman in her twenties, returned to Boston on Jan. 3, where she stayed at Logan International Airport for a two-hour stopover before flying to another state, according to the commission. of Boston Public Health (BPHC).
According to the Massachusetts Department of Public Health, the woman became ill a day after returning from a trip to the UK Although she had tested positive for the virus before leaving the UK, the woman tested positive for COVID-19 in early January.
She is currently symptomatic and continues in the state where she flew from Boston, according to the BPHC.
A sample taken from the woman was tested in an out-of-state laboratory as part of a process created by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to control the possible spread of the variant, officially called B.1.1. 7, health officials said.
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The variant is believed to spread more rapidly than the form of the virus that has occurred in the United States and surveillance tests in Massachusetts have been conducted at the State Public Health Laboratory, in collaboration with clinical diagnostic laboratories. and academic partners, according to the Department. of Health.
Contact tracers interviewed the woman with the COVID-19 variant and interviews are continuing now that it has been confirmed that the variant was causing her illness, officials said.
Efforts to prepare the health care system for further cases are justified.
-CDC report on COVID-19 strain discovered in UK
This variant, which was first detected in September and has since become an incredible prevalence in the UK, appears to be more transmissible but not more deadly, according to the CDC. But the health agency’s page on variants warns that “an increase in the number of cases will put more pressure on health resources, lead to more hospitalizations and potentially more deaths.”
President-elect Joe Biden on Friday announced plans to review the coronavirus vaccine distribution program, which includes administering 100 million doses during the first 100 days of administration.
There have been 88 total cases of variant B.1.1.7 identified in 14 states so far, according to the Department of Health. Massachusetts is the second state in New England where it is detected, after two detected in Connecticut more than a week ago.
But the CDC released a report this week that, given that COVID-19 variant B.1.1.7 can spread more quickly, may become the dominant form of the virus in the United States in March.
“Efforts to prepare the health system for further cases of cases are justified. Increased transmissibility also means that vaccination coverage must be achieved higher than expected to achieve the same level of disease control to protect the disease. compared to less transmissible variants, ”the CDC explains. said the report.
Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker had said in early January, after finding the virus in the United States, that he hoped it had already reached Massachusetts.
Gov. Charlie Baker says the new COVID-19 mutation is likely already in Massachusetts and explains the state’s vaccine distribution schedule.
“I think most of us work on the assumption that it’s here,” Baker said. “There would be no reason not to.”
State officials say public health risk reduction measures remain the same in Massachusetts.
According to health officials and vaccine manufacturers, existing COVID-19 vaccines are considered to be as effective against the new variant as against the initial form of the virus.
There are other variants than the discovery in the UK, including the discoveries in South Africa and Brazil.
Colorado Gov. Jared Polis said Tuesday that the COVID-19 variant first detected in the UK had been detected in Colorado. British scientists believe the variant is more contagious than previous strains of the virus.
The first American case of the variant was detected in Colorado this December. The arrival of the new variant in Massachusetts comes almost a year since the first coronavirus patient was identified in the state.
Asher Klein contributed to this report.