GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WILX) – A more contagious COVID-19 strain has been reported for the first time in a third Michigan province.
According to the Kent County Department of Health, a confirmed case of a highly contagious COVID-19 variant known as B117 was reported on Sunday, February 7th.
So far, 30 cases of the B117 variant have been identified in Michigan.
‘Fundamentally, it’s a race to cover our population; a race that transmits vaccination against infections, ‘says dr. Adam London, KCHD Director. “While we work to reduce the impact of COVID-19 infections, the B.1.1.7 variant gives the virus an increased rate.”
B117, which originated in the UK, is a concern according to health experts because it is 50 per cent more transmissible, leading to faster spread of the virus and possibly increasing number of cases, hospitalizations and deaths.
Michigan’s first known case of the virus variant was identified on January 16 in a Washtenaw County woman who recently traveled to the United Kingdom
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