Colorado has reported the first known case in the United States of a person infected by UK’s variant coronavirus B.1.1.7, on Tuesday, 29 December. The new variant is known to spread faster, but there is insufficient research to suggest it is more dangerous than the present COVID-19 virus.
Colorado State Governor, Jared Polis, confirmed the news on Twitter saying, “Today we discovered Colorado's first case of the COVID-19 variant B.1.1.7, the same variant discovered in the UK.”
Giving some details about the first reported case, Polis put out an official statement from his office and health officials, identifying the man to be in his 20s, kept in isolation in Elbert Country till officials clear him.
“The individual has no close contacts identified so far, but public health officials are working to identify other potential cases and contacts through thorough contact tracing interviews,” the statement said.
The statement also mentioned that a thorough investigation is underway to identify other potential cases through contact tracing interviews.
“There is a lot we don’t know about this new COVID-19 variant, but scientists in the United Kingdom are warning the world that it is significantly more contagious. We are working to prevent spread and contain the virus at all levels,” said Polis.
The man had no travel history which makes it likely that he is not the first or only case of the variant coronavirus in America. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention put out a statement that the virus may be in the country, and not picked up by the labs, which only have a fraction 51,000 of the 17 million infected cases in the US, reported The Guardian.
There have been over 3,000 cases of the new variant reported across the globe, according to EU health agency, ECDC, as first reported by AFP. There have been cases in at least 17 countries of the new virus strain, reported The Guardian.
India has so far reported 20 cases of the new coronavirus variant so far.
(With inputs from AFP and The Guardian.)
(At The Quint, we question everything. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member today.)