SPRINGFIELD, Mo. (KY3) – A Greene County resident tested positive for a COVID-19 variant.
The resident tested positive for the British variant B.1.1.7 in a sample from the beginning of March, according to an announcement Friday from the Department of Health in Springfield-Greene County.
The B.1.1.7 variant is classified by the CDC as a worrying variant. It is up to 50% more transmissible and there is also evidence of more serious diseases, based on hospitalizations and cases
Local health leaders say they knew it was coming. Dr Robin Trotman, along with CoxHealth, said if more people contract COVID-19, it gives the virus more chance to mutate and become stronger.
“We really need to pay attention to what is happening around the world because we are not special here in the United States and we are naive to think that we somehow have precautions in place,” Trotman said.
The Springfield-Greene County Health Department reported that the person who tested positive for a variant that originated in the United Kingdom did not travel. Trotman believes the person was probably exposed to someone who traveled through a chain of other people.
“People really need to think that variants just a small change in their ability to bind to our receptors can cause a smaller dose of virus to make you more ill,” he said.
This variant is considered simply because doctors are not sure if it is resistant to different immunities or treatments. However, Kendra Findley, administrator for community health and epidemiology at the Springfield-Greene County Health Department, said all three major vaccines would still work against it.
“They all have good efficiency for the B.1.17,” she said.
Findley and Trotman said the variant is possibly more contagious.
“It’s really more worrying when we talk about letting go of restrictions and meeting more, and that’s what we all desperately want to do now,” Findley said.
“If we do not want these variants to become dominant, we should not give the virus ways to reproduce,” Trotman said.
The person’s sample was randomly selected and tested by the Disease Control Center as part of its genomic monitoring program.
“With 100% certainty, there are more of these variants in our environment because we take such a small fraction of the viruses, and so it would be naive to think that it is one-time,” Trotman said.
Findley, with the department of health, said experts plan to step up the testing to find out how many cases of variants could be in the Greene County area. Results should appear in the coming weeks or months.
A COVID-19 variant has one or more mutations that distinguish it from other variants in circulation. Several variants have been documented in the United States.
“We knew it was only a matter of time before we would detect the variant in our community,” Katie Towns, acting director of health, said in a news release. ‘We will be vigilant and closely monitor the indicators we use to monitor the current situation, including the number of cases and hospitalizations. “Disease will spread as we remove occupation restrictions, and now that we have evidence that this variant is present in our community, it is more important than ever that people be vaccinated as soon as possible and protect against the severity of disease variant.”
The only other similar B.1.1.7 variant in Missouri was reported in February and identified by a Marion County resident.
SGCHD offers the following recommendations to combat the spread of COVID-19 variants:
-Wear a mask
-Check your distance
-Wash your hands
To be vaccinated
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