BOSTON (CBS) – A man in his 20s in Worcester County is the second person in Massachusetts to be diagnosed with the UK’s COVID-19 variant, the Department of Public Health confirmed on Wednesday.
The UK variant, also known as B.1.1.7., Spreads faster than other variants. It is believed to be up to 70% more transmissible than the original strain, but the CDC says there is no evidence that it is more deadly.
“It can infect more cells in someone’s nose or mouth, and because it is infecting more cells, more virus is produced,” Dr. Richard Ellison of UMass Memorial Medical Center told WBZ-TV earlier this week.
The first case of this variant in Massachusetts was reported on Sunday, January 17. A Boston woman in her 20s traveled to the UK and was ill the day after her return. She had tested negative for COVID before leaving the UK.
There are now at least 122 cases of the variant in the USA, according to the CDC.