Health officials on Saturday identified the first case of the COVID-19 variant.
The Lake County Department of Health has reported the first case of the coronavirus variant B.1.1.7, which is the strain that has spread the most in the UK in recent months.
The person infected with the variant traveled internationally and was in contact with a sick person before returning to the US at the end of December, health officials said.
According to the department, the individual did not experience any symptoms of the coronavirus.
“We expect to see more cases of this new variant in Lake County, as it appears to be spreading easier and faster than other variants,” said Dr. Sana Ahmed, medical epidemiologist for LCHD, said. “It is extremely important that you follow and test quarantine recommendations if you have traveled or been in close contact with someone who has tested positive for COVID-19.”
Health officials have pointed out that studies suggest that the currently available COVID-19 vaccine is effective against the new strains.
In Illinois, the first known case of the more contagious strain was announced by health officials on January 15th.
According to an investigation by the Chicago Department of Public Health, officials said the individual had traveled to the United Kingdom and the Middle East in the fourteen days before the diagnosis, officials said, and the department worked to identify the person’s close contacts to quarantine and isolate them. .
While there is still much uncertainty about the new COVID-19 variant first discovered in the UK, Illinois’ top doctor said Friday that enough is known for people to take the right precautions.
“… If something is more communicable, it would indicate that we need to double our mask wear,” said Dr. Ngozi Ezike, director of the Illinois Department of Public Health, while also emphasizing social distance and hand washing. “Like all the things we said … the message does not really change, it just means that it’s more important now than ever to stick to it. [mitigations]. ”
According to a scientist in the UK, there is evidence that the strain poses a greater risk of death than the original strain.
Patrick Vallance, the UK’s chief scientific adviser, said that for a man in his 60s with the original version of the virus ‘the average risk is that around 1000 people will unfortunately die for 1000 people who become infected.’
“With the new variant, about 13 or 14 people could die after 1,000 infected people,” he said.
At a coronavirus news conference on Friday, both Ezike and the Illinois government, JB Pritzker, said mitigations could be increased across the state if there were widespread reports of the new variant.
“If we see an increase in terms of the UK variant, we know that it will start to increase very quickly as soon as it gains a significant position,” Ezike said. “We know the numbers are very, very low now. But that could change …”
The doctor had earlier warned that the newly discovered strain could already dominate in March.
The British variant was first detected in September, World Health Organization officials had earlier announced. Since then, affairs in the UK have skyrocketed, leading to Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s decision to impose a national closure.
The British variant is one of two new infectious virus strains that have emerged recently, the CDC said in a teleconference late last month.