The Massachusetts Department of Public Health announced on Sunday that the state saw its first case of the COVID-19 variant first discovered in the United Kingdom.
The person testing positive for this COVID variant is a Boston woman in her 20s, officials said.
“The individual developed symptoms in early January and tested positive for COVID-19,” according to DPH. “A genetic sample was sent to an out-of-state laboratory as part of the surveillance process established by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to identify variants of COVID-19. The State Public Health Laboratory was notified last night of the results ”.
The woman traveled to the UK and fell ill the day after her return. She had tested negative before leaving the UK.
“The individual was interviewed by contact trackers at the time the initial positive result was received and close contacts were identified,” said officials. “She is being interviewed again by public health officials, now that the variant has been identified as the cause of the disease.”
The surveillance test for variant B.1.1.7 is underway at the Massachusetts State Public Health Laboratory in collaboration with clinical diagnostic laboratories and academic partners. Surveillance consists of genomic sequencing in portions of samples positive for COVID-19.
As of Sunday, there have been 88 cases reported in 14 states in the United States.
“Given the greater transmissibility of this variant and the number of states and other countries that have found infected cases, the Department expected the variant to reach Massachusetts eventually,” said DPH. “The measures to reduce public health risks remain the same. Individuals should continue to wear face masks or covers when they are in public, maintain a 1.8 m social distance, stay home when they are ill and get tested if they have symptoms or are identified as a close contact.
Dr. Anthony Fauci on Sunday said that public health officials are taking the COVID-19 mutations “very seriously”, including the highly contagious strain that has spread to 50 countries and has become the dominant source of infection in the world. United Kingdom, as well as “more sinister” in Brazil and South Africa.
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