Both cases were originally tested in early January, according to Dr. Brannon Traxler, interim director of public health for the health department.
Traxler told reporters that both cases were tested by PCR “very early in the month”, are no longer contagious and are doing well.
“It takes a while for the sequencing to be done,” added Traxler.
One case was confirmed to the department last night by the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the other was identified by the state’s public health laboratory during sample testing in the past few days.
A spokeswoman for the state health department told CNN that no other cases have been linked to anyone so far.
Traxler did not reveal detailed results of a contact tracking investigation, offering that “we have no concerns at this point … about the potential for any mass and widespread transmission.”
It is unclear how widespread or rare the variant can be in South Carolina, she added, given that only two cases were “detected during routine surveillance sequencing.” However, she noted that “the predominant strain we are still seeing in our surveillance sequencing is the standard, or normal” version of the virus.
The CDC said in a statement that it was aware of the cases, noting that “we have no evidence that infections with this variant cause more serious illnesses”. The agency said it would continue to work with laboratories across the country to genetically sequence samples of the virus.
The variant – also known as B.1.351 – raised concerns about being more transmissible than other versions of the virus and potentially escaping the immune protection offered by antibodies. Experts say the vaccines will still be effective against the variant.
Traxler said the variant’s arrival in South Carolina “is yet another reminder that the fight against this deadly virus is far from over.”
The variant has been detected in more than 30 other countries, according to the World Health Organization.