The Springfield-Greene County Health Department confirmed Friday that a patient in Greene County tested positive for the UK variant of the coronavirus, called B.1.1.7, in a sample taken at the beginning of March.
The B.1.1.7 variant is noted by the CDC to have a significant transmissibility increase (around 50% more transmissible), and to be potentially more severe.
Local health leaders are not surprised at the eventual appearance of this variant in Missouri. As more people come into contact with COVID-19, it gives the virus more chances to mutate.
Since the person who tested positive with the variant had not travelled, local transmission is the most realistic possibility.
The main concern around the variant B.1.1.7 is what professionals don’t know about it. It may be resistant to different treatments, but local health officials are confident that all three vaccines available today are effective against the variant.
