The rapidly spreading COVID-19 variant arrived in Utah

SALT LAKE CITY – The first case of the highly transmissible COVID-19 variant in Utah was reported on Friday in a Salt Lake County man between 25 and 44 who had a positive test last month but did not travel outside the condition and showed only mild symptoms.

“We predicted that we would find this strain in Utah,” said state epidemiologist Dr. Angela Dunn, warning that it is now more important for Utahns to continue following the same public health guidelines designed to slow the spread of the deadly virus, such as the use of a mask.

“We know that this strain is more transmissible than previous variants of COVID-19 and our hospitals continue to operate at or near capacity,” she said. “So now more than ever, Utah residents need to wear masks, practice physical distance and avoid large gatherings.”

Dunn said the way the variant spreads has not changed, but the mutation allows the virus to enter the body more easily and stick to cells, making people more susceptible to illness. However, she said the variant does not appear to make people sicker or more likely to die, and responds to existing vaccines.

Kelly Oakeson, a genomics researcher at the Utah public health laboratory, said she believes the variant is already more widespread, as only about 10% of positive samples in the state are being sequenced to determine whether the strain is present.

The news comes as the state reported 2,543 new cases of coronavirus and 12 additional deaths. Another 12,985 Utahns were tested for the deadly virus by Friday and the seven-day average for positive tests is 2,391 per day and 25% for the percentage of positive laboratory tests.

320,102 cases of COVID-19 have occurred in Utah since the pandemic began last March.

The Utah Department of Health confirmed the state’s first case of what is often called a “UK variant”, a mutation that led to the blockade in Britain. The strain of the virus spreads about 50% faster, according to British researchers, and is expected to lead to a rapid increase in new cases in the United States.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention warned on Friday that the variant, which was first detected in the United States last month in Colorado, could become the nation’s predominant COVID-19 strain in March and accelerate the already fast increase in cases.

Only 76 cases of the variant were reported in the United States by the CDC as of Wednesday, in California, Colorado, Texas, Florida, Georgia, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Indiana, New York, Connecticut, Pennsylvania and Maryland. That number rose to 88 on Friday, including the case in Utah and others in New Mexico and Nebraska.

Utah health officials had been genetic sequencing positive samples of COVID-19 to look for the variant, and the Salt Lake County Department of Health conducted what was described as a routine investigation and contact tracking of the case.

Oakeson said that while the United States lags behind other countries in the process used to detect the variant, Utah is one of the states that is increasing the effort. He said Utah should soon be able to handle the sequencing of 3,000 test samples every two days.

Shortage of vaccine reserve

Also on Friday, Utah and other states learned that there are no vaccine stocks available to increase the number of doses delivered, although Secretary of Health and Human Services Alex Azar said earlier this week that vaccines withheld for second doses would be released, potentially doubling what the states would receive.

Rich Lakin, director of immunization for the Utah Department of Health, told Deseret News that the department was notified on Friday by the head of Operation Warp Speed, who is overseeing the distribution of vaccines, that states should not wait any longer than 2% to 5% additional doses, because that is all that has been reserved.

Lakin said Utah did not expect to receive more than 33,000 or more doses already distributed, based on population and shared with drugstore chains that are vaccinating patients and staff at long-term care facilities, calling themselves “very skeptical” about the possibility sudden unexpected luck.

“They didn’t get the message across very well,” he said, after the Washington Post reported on Friday that there are no vaccine stocks. Lakin said Operation Warp Speed ​​was taken by surprise by Azar’s announcement: “It was a surprise for them, by the way, when the Trump administration said, ‘We are releasing all doses.'”

President-elect Joe Biden’s transition team had said earlier this month that the new government would move to release all doses in an attempt to vaccinate more people more quickly, something that had already been done in Britain.

Some states, like Oregon, were counting on the additional doses promised by Azar as efforts to vaccinate older Americans and those with underlying medical conditions began. Oregon Governor Kate Brown, a Democrat, called this “a nationwide mistake.”

Utah Governor Spencer Cox was more restrained.

“We continue to work with administrations that come and go to get more clarity on the quantity and timing of vaccines that arrive in our state,” said Cox, a Republican, in a statement. “We hope to see an increase in vaccine quantities soon.”

Utah death toll: 1,472

Utah’s 13 local health departments are starting to vaccinate residents aged 70 and over, following frontline hospitals and other health professionals, patients from long-term care facilities, emergency personnel and staff, first responders and teachers and school officials.

The state said on Friday that 142,751 doses of vaccines administered, according to a health department survey, an increase of 9,544.

Currently, 584 people are hospitalized with COVID-19, bringing the total number of hospitalizations in the state to more than 12,300. The number of deaths from the virus in Utah now stands at 1,472. The 12 deaths reported on Friday are:

• Two men from Salt Lake County, both aged 45 to 64, who were hospitalized at the time of death.
• Two men from Salt Lake County, aged 65 to 84, both hospitalized.
• Two men from Salt Lake County, 65-84, residing in long-term care facilities.
• A woman from Salt Lake County, over 85, residing in a long-term care facility.
• Tooele County woman, 65-84 years old, hospitalized.
• A Utah county man, over 85, hospitalized.
• A Washington County man, aged 65 to 84, residing in a long-term care facility.
• A man from Weber County, 65-84, residing in a long-term care facility.
• A woman from Weber County, aged 65 to 84, who was not hospitalized at the time of death.