Health Secretary Dr Rachel Levine said on Thursday that it is not surprising that a variant of COVID-19, which may be able to spread faster, has been found in Pennsylvania, and she expects more cases.
Pennsylvania announced the case on Thursday, saying it involved someone in Dauphin County who contracted it during a trip. The state did not reveal any personal details or information about where the person traveled.
The state said the person had mild symptoms that disappeared while the person was isolating himself. The state said it had screened for other people who may have had contact with the infected person, but gave no further details.
RELATED: Another day of more than 200 COVID-19 deaths pushes the death toll to 17,000 since the pandemic began
The variant was first detected in England in December. It has been found in about 30 European counties.
About 50-60 cases have been found in the United States so far, with about half in California and Florida and a small number in Colorado, Georgia and New York.
The variant is believed to spread more quickly than other strains that have circulated in the United States so far. However, there is no evidence that it makes people sicker.
Coronaviruses including COVID-19 are known for their ability to mutate to bypass people’s immune systems.
However, experts believe that vaccines that began to be launched in the United States and elsewhere last month are effective against the variant. Levine said: “there is every reason to suspect that the vaccine will prevent this strain”.
Identifying the variant strain requires genetic sequencing not commonly available. Pennsylvania has been sending random samples to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, apparently leading to the discovery of the case announced on Thursday.
Levine said that Pennsylvania hopes to soon have the ability to detect the variant at the state laboratory and some other laboratories in Pennsylvania.
She said the variant strain is not currently responsible for most infections, but public health agencies in Pennsylvania and across the country will closely monitor the prevalence.
Experts say that a variant that spreads more quickly can worsen the pandemic, causing more cases and deaths and causing more hospitalizations and pressure on the health system.
More from PennLive
Elementary school students must return to the classrooms, says the new COVID-19 guidance from Pa.