Massachusetts officials on Tuesday confirmed the first case of the coronavirus variant status that originated in South Africa. Here is what we know about the variant, officially dubbed B.1.351, that was detected in a 20-year-old woman. who lived in Middlesex County.
1. It is highly contagious – “Variant B.1.351 is known to spread easily,” said the state Department of Public Health on Tuesday. “The Massachusetts State Public Health Laboratory is working collaboratively with many academic and healthcare partners to quickly identify the worrying variants by sequencing a subset of positive samples.”
2. It first appeared in October – “This variant was first identified in Nelson Mandela Bay, South Africa, in samples dating from the beginning of October 2020, and since then cases have been detected outside South Africa, including the United States”, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says on its website.
The variant was also discovered in Zambia in late December and appeared to be the dominant strain of the virus in that country at the time.
“There is currently no evidence to suggest that this variant has any impact on the severity of the disease,” says the CDC website.
3. Is in at least 10 U.S. states – As of Tuesday, nine states and Washington, DC, have reported a total of 19 cases of the variant, according to the CDC website. States include Massachusetts, Connecticut, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Texas, Illinois, California and Maryland.
4. Not the only variant in the United States – Two others have been confirmed: variant B.1.1.7, first identified in the United Kingdom, as well as strain P.1, which first appeared in Brazil, says the CDC.
“These variants appear to spread more easily and quickly than other variants, which could lead to more cases of COVID-19,” says the CDC on its website. “An increase in the number of cases will put more pressure on health resources, lead to more hospitalizations and potentially more deaths.”
The state DPH said on Tuesday that wearing a mask remains a key component of the prevention strategy.
“New information from the CDC shows that improving the fit and filtering of the masks helps to reduce the spread of the virus,” said DPH. “The fit of the mask can be improved by using a mask with a nose string and using a mask adjuster or by knotting the ear straps and folding the sides. Mask filtering is enhanced by using multiple layers. “
5. Some researchers suggest that strains may be resistant to vaccines – Balazs Lab, a research group affiliated with Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard and MIT, tweeted about the possible resistance of variant B.1.351 to vaccines on Sunday.
“Of great concern, we found that three different variants of B.1.351 show very significant resistance to neutralization by vaccinated sera,” tweeted the laboratory, adding that “our findings need to be replicated by other groups. This is a pre-press and has not yet been peer reviewed. We may be missing out on something important that other scientists will point out to us. “
Travis Andersen can be reached at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @TAGlobe.