More contagious U.K. variant of COVID confirmed in first Whatcom County resident
The first confirmed case of the highly contagious COVID-19 virus variant B.1.1.7, commonly known as the U.K. variant, has been found in a Whatcom County resident.
The state notified the Whatcom County Health Department on Monday afternoon, Feb. 22, according to a news release from the health department.
No additional information was provided about the Whatcom County resident.
“We are concerned but not alarmed about the detection of this variant in Whatcom County,” Dr. Greg Stern, Whatcom County health officer, said in a news release on Tuesday, Feb. 23. “It has been present in other counties in our region for several weeks, and we expected that it would eventually be identified in Whatcom County as well.”
First discovered in the United Kingdom in December, the variant concerns health officials because of its ability to spread more easily and more quickly than the original strain that causes COVID-19.
There is some recent evidence from the U.K. that it may increase the risk of hospitalization or death, but those findings haven’t been confirmed yet, the county news release states.
“We expect this variant will continue to spread over the next several months,” Stern said.
“We’re encouraged that the current vaccines work well to protect against it,” he added, referring to the Moderna and Pfizer vaccines.
While vaccine supply remains limited, Whatcom public health officials said, they are expected it to increase in the coming weeks.
It is one of three COVID-19 variants that are particularly worrying to U.S. health officials and that they are tracking.
So far, there are at least 1,661 known cases caused by the U.K. variant in 44 states, including Washington, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data on Sunday, Feb. 21.
On Tuesday, the Washington State Department of Health said the number of cases confirmed to have the U.K strain had climbed to 39, after a virology lab found evidence of 19 more cases in the state.
To protect against a variant that spreads more easily, Whatcom public health officials are urging residents to continue with measures to curb the spread of COVID-19.
“It’s even more important now to diligently take these preventive steps as we wait for more vaccine,” Stern said.
They are:
▪ Wear a close-fitting mask in public and when you’re with anyone outside your household. Masks should have multiple layers and cover your nose and mouth.
▪ Avoid indoor social gatherings. If you do, mask up and keep windows and doors open for greater ventilation.
▪ Wash hands often. If water and soap aren’t available, use hand sanitizer.
They’re also urging Whatcom County residents to sign up for a free smartphone app, called Washington Exposure Notifications or WA Notify, which alerts users who may have been exposed to COVID-19.
South Africa variant
The first COVID-19 case involving the B.1.351 variant has been detected in Washington state, in King County, according to a news release from the Washington State Department of Health on Tuesday.
First identified in South Africa in December, the variant was found Monday in Washington state through genomic sequencing at the UW Medicine Virology Laboratory for a patient who tested positive for COVID-19 on Jan. 29, according to the release.
More details about the case, including travel history, are not available because the person couldn’t be reached through contact tracing efforts, officials said.
“The finding underscores the importance of genomic surveillance by sequencing, which allows us to identify variants currently circulating in the population,” said Dr. Pavitra Roychoudhury, acting instructor of the Laboratory Medicine and Pathology at the University of Washington School of Medicine, in the release.
The state said there are no known cases yet of the P.1 variant, which originated in Brazil.
Learn more
Additional information about the U.K. and other variants are on the Washington State Department of Health and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention at:
▪ doh.wa.gov/Emergencies/COVID19/Variants
▪ cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/transmission/variant.html
Public health officials are encouraging people to make sure their masks fit well to reduce the spread of COVID-19. Details on fit and filtration is at cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/prevent-getting-sick/mask-fit-and-filtration.html.
This story was originally published February 23, 2021 at 10:31 AM.
