Georgian health officials confirmed the first case of the coronavirus variant in the UK in an 18-year-old man with no travel history. In a press release sent on Tuesday, authorities said the patient was being isolated at home and that contact tracking was in progress.
The discovery was made during the analysis of a specimen sent by a Georgian pharmacy to a commercial laboratory. It is not yet clear how the patient contracted the variant.
“The emergence of this variant in our state should be a wake-up call for all Georgians,” Kathleen Toomey, a commissioner in the state’s health department, said in a press release. “Even when we start launching a COVID-19 vaccine, we shouldn’t let our guard down and ignore basic preventive measures – wear a mask, social distance and wash your hands often.”
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The variant, identified as B.1.1.7, was first discovered in the UK several weeks ago, and the first state to report a case in the USA was Colorado. Since then, New York, California and Florida have reported cases.
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The variant is considered to be much more transmissible than the original COVID-19 strain first detected when the outbreak began. The United Kingdom entered a third national block, citing an increase in new cases believed to be caused by variant B.1.1.7.
On Tuesday, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo called the variant a “game changer” and said the country has been trying to recover since the pandemic began. Cuomo said the variant would only make walking more difficult and called for faster vaccination measures.
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Across the country, authorities have been pressuring health professionals to streamline the vaccination process so that states can enter the next phase of distribution. As of Tuesday, the United States had distributed more than 17 million doses of vaccines, but only 4.8 million reached the arms of Americans.