Maryland Governor Larry Hogan announced on Saturday that the state had confirmed a case of a variant of the coronavirus initially detected in South Africa.
The case was confirmed by an unidentified adult resident in Baltimore, with no history of travel abroad, suggesting that the variant is probably circulating in the community, the governor’s office said.
“Variant B.1.351 of the SARS-CoV-2 virus first detected in South Africa was identified in Maryland,” wrote Hogan in a tweet. “We continue to monitor the new variants closely and ask sailors to limit transmission by wearing masks, avoiding meetings and washing their hands.”
MARYLAND GOV. HOGAN PUSHES TO REOPEN HYBRID LEARNING SCHOOLS
The news comes when Maryland administered at least 535,638 vaccines in a state of about 6 million people. The seven-day average for daily vaccinations is more than 25,000.
HOW CAN I AVOID CORONAVIRUS VARIABLES?
The state also appears to be gradually descending from a turbulent winter in terms of case counting, when daily infections reached 3,700 on December 4 and again on January 8 and January 9, according to state data. Maryland recorded less than 2,000 daily cases on January 31 and February 1.
The rate of positivity across the state is 5.61%, with a total of confirmed cases of around 355,600 and almost 7,000 deaths related to the new virus.
The coronavirus strain initially detected in South Africa is not the only mutated strain that is likely to circulate in Maryland. The governor’s office announced two confirmed cases of a highly transmissible strain from the United Kingdom on 12 January. That number has risen to at least eight cases, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
GET FOX NEWS APPLICATION
Scientists believe that the UK strain spreads about 50% to 70% more easily from person to person, and some experts suggest that the B.1.1.7 strain may be even more deadly.
The first findings also suggest that vaccines will remain effective against strains, although the South African strain, in particular, has reduced effectiveness. For example, recent findings from Novavax reveal that its vaccine is 89% against COVID-19 disease, but has dropped to 60% among trial volunteers in South Africa. Including volunteers with HIV, general protection against the South African variant Africa was 49%, the company said.
Maryland is the second state in the country to announce a case of the South African strain, following earlier reports from South Carolina on Thursday.