SALT LAKE CITY – A case of the Brazilian variant COVID-19 was detected in Utah, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
A Utah Department of Health spokesman confirmed on Monday that a case of the variant was found in the state. The Brazilian variant of the disease is also known as variant P.1, and a total of 54 cases of this variant have been reported in the USA to date, according to the CDC.
Arizona is currently the only state bordering Utah that has also detected the P.1 variant, with four cases. Florida currently has 21 cases of variant P.1, the highest number of any US state, according to the CDC.
There have been 150 cases of variant B.1.1.7 COVID-19, which originated in the United Kingdom, detected in Utah so far, according to the CDC. This variant was first detected in Salt Lake County in January. There are currently 6,390 confirmed cases of the UK variant in the US so far, reports the CDC.
No case of variant B.1.351, which originated in South Africa, has been detected in Utah so far. There are 194 cases of the South African variant in the US as of Monday, according to the CDC.
Although the CDC reported only one case of the P.1 variant in Utah, it is possible that there are already many more unconfirmed cases of the variant.
Public health laboratories conduct sequencing of the complete genome in a limited selection of COVID-19 samples taken from PCR tests to confirm variant cases, according to the Utah Department of Health. The sequencing process takes a long time, so there is usually a delay in reporting variant cases.
Dr. Kelly Oakeson, chief scientist for next-generation bioinformatics and sequencing at the Utah Public Health Laboratory, said in January, when the UK variant was detected in Utah, that he believed it was probably more widespread in the state than just a case.
“We are not sequencing all of the positive samples, so we are only sequencing about 10% – in a few months a little less than that,” said Oakeson. “So if we detect this quickly, since we were looking for it, it indicates that it is probably more widespread than just this individual.”
The COVID-19 vaccines have shown mixed, but generally successful, results against variants of the virus.
A study of the Pfizer vaccine launched earlier this month showed strong protection for the virus variants in Brazil and the United Kingdom, while protection against the South African variant was “robust, but inferior,” according to the study.
Utah Department of Health epidemiologist Dr. Angela Dunn said earlier this month that, in addition to vaccination, there are ways to protect Utahns against variants of the virus.
“It is so important that when the vaccine is available to you, you get it,” said Dunn on March 11. “Furthermore, we know how to protect ourselves against variants, right? The masks work. Physical detachment works. Stay home when you’re sick – everything works. Therefore, we will continue to use these tools until we are all vaccinated. “