Virginia

appalachiablue

(42,819 posts) Mon Jan 25, 2021, 06:35 PM Jan 2021

NoVA Patient With No Travel History 1st In State To Test Positive For UK Covid Variant

WUSA9, Jan. 25, 2021.

A variant of the COVID-19 virus first found in the United Kingdom last year has been found in Northern Virginia, health department officials said. The Virginia Department of Health and the Department of General Services Division of Consolidated Laboratory Services (DCLS) announced that the first case of the B.1.1.7 variant was identified in a sample from a resident of Northern Virginia with no reported recent travel history.

“Viruses change all the time, and we expect to see new strains as disease spreads,” State Health Commissioner Dr. M. Norman Oliver said. “We know this variant strain spreads more quickly between people than other strains currently circulating in our communities, but we still have more to learn about whether it causes more severe illness."

VDH did not specify where in Northern Virginia the patient lives. DCLS said they have informed the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention of the variant case. The B.1.1.7 variant was first discovered in the United Kingdom in late 2020 and is more infectious, according to leading health experts.

In the United States, nearly 200 cases of the B.1.1.7 variant have been detected in 23 states as of Jan. 22, 2021. While scientists are working to better understand its impact on vaccine efficacy, early data suggests currently authorized vaccines are effective against the new variant...

Link to tweet

More, https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/northern-virginia-patient-with-no-travel-history-first-in-state-to-test-positive-for-uk-coronavirus-variant/ar-BB1d59MR
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- 'Covid: How worrying are the UK, South Africa, and Brazil coronavirus variants?; BBC News, Jan. 25, 2021,
https://www.bbc.com/news/health-55659820
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* 'Coronavirus: UK variant 'may be more deadly,' BBC News, Jan. 22, 2021,
https://www.bbc.com/news/health-55768627

5 replies

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NoVA Patient With No Travel History 1st In State To Test Positive For UK Covid Variant (Original Post) appalachiablue Jan 2021 OP

I read somewhere that it appears the mutated strain has been showing up in diverse locations captain queeg Jan 2021 #1

Scary, this monster is raging. I just posted above a BBC article appalachiablue Jan 2021 #2

Yeah they waffle on mortality soothsayer Jan 2021 #3

And we'll find out, sooner than later. It's the young, who haven't appalachiablue Jan 2021 #4

No travel history is meaningless. PoindexterOglethorpe Jan 2021 #5

captain queeg

(11,780 posts)

1. I read somewhere that it appears the mutated strain has been showing up in diverse locations

Reply to appalachiablue (Original post)

Mon Jan 25, 2021, 06:44 PM

Jan 2021

Where there is no evidence of someone bringing it in. So if the mutations are arising independently that’s very bad. Sort of the whole evolutionary thing, the variance is popping up spontaneously it shows that the virus has found a better version to reproduce and spread. Not sure if I worded that correctly but I could see where that’s a bad thing.

appalachiablue

(42,819 posts)

2. Scary, this monster is raging. I just posted above a BBC article

Reply to captain queeg (Reply #1)

Mon Jan 25, 2021, 06:52 PM

Jan 2021

from Jan. 22 that states that the UK variant might also have higher mortality, up to 30%. BUT, they aren't certain yet.

soothsayer

(38,601 posts)

3. Yeah they waffle on mortality

Reply to appalachiablue (Reply #2)

Mon Jan 25, 2021, 06:55 PM

Jan 2021

Maybe they don’t know. But the South African one (or is it Brazilian?) is said to have increased mortality.

appalachiablue

(42,819 posts)

4. And we'll find out, sooner than later. It's the young, who haven't

Reply to soothsayer (Reply #3)

Mon Jan 25, 2021, 06:59 PM

Jan 2021

had much of a chance in life yet that I'm most personally concerned about.

PoindexterOglethorpe

(26,604 posts)

5. No travel history is meaningless.

Reply to appalachiablue (Original post)

Mon Jan 25, 2021, 07:35 PM

Jan 2021

Unless the person has been inside locked room since last March, which I somehow doubt, they are still occasionally coming in contact with other people. So many people go maskless, so many wear them wrong (nose hanging out), so many wear loose knit "gaiters" as masks which are worse than ineffective, it goes on. Add to that, a lot of people are asymptomatic and thus all unknowingly can spread the disease. And, as I understand it, only a tiny fraction of one percent of all positive Covid tests get their DNA sequenced, so we really haven't a clue just what is out there.

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