Another COVID-19 Variant Confirmed In King County, Officials Say

Another variant of the novel coronavirus was detected in a King County, according to KOMO.

The Washington State Health Department said the B.1.351 strain was identified Monday (February 22) at the University of Washington Medicine Virology Laboratory. B.1.351 was originally identified in South Africa back in December.

Reports say this variant has been found in ten states in the United States. No word on whether it's more contagious than other strains, like B.1.1.7.

The B.1.1.7 strain, which was first identified in the United Kingdom, was also confirmed in western Washington in late January. Health officials and experts said the UK variant is more contagious than others and leads to more COVID-19 cases.

They also warn that this could pose more obstacles for the Evergreen State.

“COVID-19 is threatening us in new ways, and we need to rise to the challenge,” Dr. Jeff Duchin said, a public health officer for Seattle & King County. “The B.1.1.7 variant can spread more readily and B.1.351 viruses might reduce vaccine effectiveness. For these reasons we need to continue to do all we can to prevent the spread of COVID-19 and push our case rates as low as possible.”

Photo: Getty Images


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