SALT LAKE CITY – According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, one case of the Brazilian COVID-19 variant was detected in Utah.
A Utah Department of Health spokeswoman confirmed Monday that one case of the variant was found in the state. The Brazilian variant of the disease is also known as the P.1 variant, and a total of 54 cases of the variant have been reported in the US so far, according to the CDC.
Arizona is currently the only state in Utah that has also detected the P.1 variant, with four cases. According to the CDC, Florida currently has 21 cases of the P.1 variant, the most of any U.S. state.
According to the CDC, so far 150 cases of the B.1.1.7 COVID-19 variant, which originated in the United Kingdom, have been detected. This variant was first detected in January in Salt Lake County. There are currently 6,390 confirmed cases of the British variant in the US, reports the CDC.
No cases of the B.1.351 variant, which originated in South Africa, have so far been detected in Utah. According to the CDC, there are 194 cases of the South African variant in the USA on Monday.
Although the CDC has reported only one case of the P.1 variant in Utah, it is possible that there are many more unconfirmed cases of the variant.
Public health labs are conducting a complete genome sequence on a limited range of COVID-19 samples taken from PCR tests to confirm different cases, according to the Utah Department of Health. The sequence of the sequence takes a long time, so there is usually a delay in reporting different cases.
Dr Kelly Oakeson, chief scientist for bioinformatics and sequencing at The Utah Public Health Laboratory, said in January that when the British variant was detected in Utah, he believed it was probably more widespread in the state than just one case.
“We do not rank every positive sample, and we only follow up 10% – in some months a little less than that,” Oakeson said. “So if we found out quickly as we searched for it, it suggests to us that it is probably more widespread than just this individual.”
COVID-19 vaccines show mixed, but generally successful, results against variants of the virus.
A study of the Pfizer vaccine released earlier this month showed strong protection from the virus variant in Brazil and the UK, while protection against the South African variant was ‘strong but lower’, according to the study.
Utah State Epidemiologist Angela Dunn said earlier this month that there are more than vaccinations to protect Utahns from variants of the virus.
“It’s so important that if you have the vaccine available, you get it,” Dunn said on March 11. “We also know how to protect ourselves from the variants, don’t we? Masks work. Physical distance works. Staying home when you stay home you are sick – it all works. So let’s use the tools until we’ll all be vaccinated.”