The highly contagious variant of the coronavirus, which was first discovered in the UK before it was found in several states in the United States, arrived in New Jersey, NJ Advance Media discovered.
Governor Phil Murphy and the state’s chief health officer will announce at the COVID-19 meeting on Friday in Trenton that two cases have been identified at Garden State.
Scientists said the mutation was up to 70% more contagious. But there is no evidence that it is even more deadly or more resistant to vaccines. New Jersey joins at least 20 states where the strain has been confirmed.
“We are reporting that two confirmed cases of the COVID-19 variant involving variant B.1.1.7 or the United Kingdom have been identified in New Jersey,” will announce Commissioner Judy Persichilli of the Department of Health, according to her prepared comments.
The first case identified is of an Ocean County man in his 60s and the other is a child who was traveling to northern New Jersey, will announce Judy Persichilli, Commissioner of the Department of Health.
“(The man) had no history of travel or clear exposures to other people who were sick,” says Persichilli. “The child, who took the test on January 11 in New York City, is asymptomatic. The local health department is working to investigate this case. “
The man developed symptoms in late December and was tested with a CRP test on January 6. He was never hospitalized and has since recovered.
The governor said in late December that it was likely that the new strain was already in the state.
“We are operating on the assumption that this pressure is on us,” Murphy said during a news conference on December 28.
It was discovered in neighboring New York in early January.
CORONAVIRUS RESOURCES: Live Map Tracker | Newsletter | Home page
Viruses generally acquire minor changes of one or two letters in their genetic alphabet only through normal evolution. A slightly modified strain may become the most common strain in a country or region just because it was the strain that first settled there or because “super-spreader” events helped it to take hold.
A major concern is when a virus mutates, changing the proteins on its surface to help it escape drugs or the immune system.
But New Jersey health officials said they did not believe the variant would limit the effectiveness of vaccines against the virus.
“Chances are the vaccine will continue to work well,” said Ed Lifshitz, medical director of the Department of Health’s Communicable Diseases Service, last month.
“The reason for this is because for a virus to mutate enough that the antibodies in the vaccine don’t stop,” he said, “it would probably also mutate enough not to cling to the cell in the first place.”
He added: “I know that cell vaccine manufacturers are looking at this and we certainly always want to pay attention because we never say never when it comes to viruses, but I would expect the vaccine to be as effective or almost as effective against the new variant as the current variants. “
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to NJ.com
Matt Arco can be contacted at [email protected].