There has been some good news about the coronavirus pandemic front in recent weeks.
However, on Thursday, February 11, state health officials announced some bad news. The highly publicized South African strain of COVID-19, which is rapidly spreading, was identified in North Carolina for the first time.
The variant – officially known as “B.1.351” – was first found in the United States in January, after being detected in South Africa in October.
Local, state and federal health officials said it is important to vaccinate as many people as soon as possible in order to reduce the number of mutant strains of the coronavirus.
Scientists are studying the effectiveness of current vaccines against new strains – as well as lethality. However, state health officials say current vaccines must be effective against this undesirable South African variant.
North Carolina’s discovery B.1.351 was in a sample taken from “an adult in the central part of the state who had not recently traveled”.
The person tested positive on a LabCorp test.
North Carolina is the fourth state to discover a case of B.1.351. To date, nine cases have been identified in the USA. North Carolina follows South Carolina, Maryland and Virginia when it sees the strain thought to have originated in South Africa.
According to information from the NC Department of Health and Human Services, “the data suggest that this variant may be more contagious than other variants, but it does not suggest that it causes a more serious illness. Current COVID-19 vaccines are expected to be effective against this and other new variants. “
State officials said the strain’s arrival in North Carolina was anticipated.
Meanwhile, the state’s vaccination effort continues. On February 10, more than 1.4 million doses of the coronavirus vaccine were distributed in the state.