Even before Thursday, South Carolina stood out.
In a country where new coronavirus cases were finally starting to decline after two exhausting months, South Carolina remained stuck. Although the average number of new cases was decreasing, the state had the second highest number per capita in the country, behind Arizona.
Then came the news of the variant.
On Thursday, South Carolina health officials said they had detected two cases of a more contagious coronavirus variant, which first appeared in South Africa. It was the first report of this variant to be detected in the United States and raised questions about how many other variant infections may have gone unnoticed.
“This is scary,” Dr. Krutika Kuppalli, an infectious disease physician at the Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston, told the Associated Press. “It is probably more widespread.”
The variant, known as B.1.351, was originally identified in South Africa and has since been found in about 30 countries. Not only is it more contagious, there is also evidence that vaccines are less effective against it.
The variant may pose a particular challenge for the United States, which does little of the genomic sequencing necessary to track the spread of new forms of the virus. And several variants have caused concern.
Among them are variant B.1.1.7 found for the first time in Great Britain and since then seen in more than 46 countries and 24 states of the USA, and variant P.1, found for the first time in Brazil, which authorities United States reported having detected this week in Minnesota.
On Thursday, the South Carolina Department of Health said it had identified a case of the variant in South Africa the day before – when it was also notified of a second case by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The department said the cases did not involve known trips to South Africa and no connection between the two patients, both adults. One was in the Lowcountry region of the state, in the south, and the other in the Pee Dee region, in the northeast.
This suggested that the variant is circulating in the community and warned the public to take precautions.
“The arrival of the SARS-CoV-2 variant in our state is an important reminder for all South Carolinaians that the fight against this deadly virus is far from over,” said Dr. Brannon Traxler, acting director of public health for the health department in a statement. “Although more Covid-19 vaccines are on the way, supplies are still limited. Each of us must commit to the fight again, recognizing that we are all on the front lines now. “
In an online briefing, Dr. Traxler said that the same precautions were being taken for the new variant and for other cases of viruses. Both people who contracted the variant were tested in early January and recovered, she said.
“We have no concerns at this point, based on contact tracking, about the potential for any mass and widespread transmission,” said Traxler.
On Thursday, there were at least 431,169 cases and 6,903 deaths in South Carolina since the pandemic began.
Governor Henry McMaster wrote on Twitter that the ad was “an important piece of information for the South Carolina, but it is not a reason for panic”. He encouraged residents to wear masks and to distance themselves socially.