ILLINOIS – A coronavirus variant first identified in South Africa has moved to Illinois, public health officials said Thursday.
It was recently confirmed that a resident of Rock Island was carrying the B.1.351 variant, the first known case in the state, officials from the Illinois Department of Public Health announced. The department also confirmed Illinois has 22 cases of the B.1.1.7 variant, which was first identified in the UK.
311K vaccinated against coronavirus in IL; 22 cases of British variant
The director of IDPH, dr. Ngozi Ezike, said that public health officials “will see more cases of coronavirus variants, including those of South Africa and the United Kingdom, and warn that they could lead to a new increase in cases.
“These variants appear to be spreading faster, which could lead to more cases of COVID-19 and even another surge,” Ezike said in a release. “Our best way to defeat this virus as quickly as possible is still wearing our masks and getting vaccinated if it’s our turn.”
Cases of the South African coronavirus variant were first identified in the US at the end of January, and researchers are determining whether the approved vaccines currently offer the same protection against them and other variants, according to the IDPH.
Public health officials are also monitoring a variant known as P.1, which originated in Brazil. As of Friday, there were no identified cases of the P.1 variant in Illinois.