Health Secretary Dr Rachel Levine said an individual in Dauphin County tested positive after a well-known international exposure. This variant is the same one that was first discovered in England in December.
UK scientists said there is no evidence that it causes more serious illnesses, but it may be able to spread more easily.
The individual had mild symptoms, which were resolved while they completed isolation at home, officials said.
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“Pennsylvania is preparing for this variant by working closely with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and has been sending 10-35 random samples every fortnight to the CDC since November to study sequencing and detect any potential cases for this new one. COVID- 19, “said Levine. “Public health specialists are in the early stages of work to better understand this new variant, how it spreads and how it affects people infected with it.”
To date, there have been 609,905 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the state and 16,914 in Pennsylvania have died from the virus.
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