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Michigan has confirmed two more cases of the highly contagious United Kingdom Covid variant, bringing the total to three.
The Washtenaw County Health Department announced the findings Thursday, saying two female residents with the UK variant had close contact with another woman in the county, who was the first person in Michigan to be diagnosed with the variant. That woman had traveled to the United Kingdom. Her case was confirmed last Saturday.
The county said it has yet to determine if five other Covid case linked to the original woman have the variant strain known as B.1.1.7.
“Because this variant is more contagious, we have been expecting more B.1.1.7 cases following Michigan’s first case being identified on Saturday,” said Dr. Joneigh Khaldun, chief medical executive and chief deputy for health at the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services.
“We are watching this situation as closely as possible,” added Dr. Juan Luis Marquez, the medical director with Washtenaw County Health Department, in a statement. “And we ask everyone to continue to do everything they can to prevent transmission – mask, distance, avoid crowds or gatherings, clean your hands frequently, and follow isolation or quarantine guidance carefully.”
The county said it's possible there are more B.1.1.7 cases in Michigan that have yet to be identified.
While the B.1.1.7. is believed to be more contagious, the reports have been that it is generally no more dangerous than other strains.
But on Friday Prime Minister Boris Johnson said at a news conference that the variant “may be associated with a higher degree of mortality," the Washington Post reports.
England’s chief scientific adviser Patrick Valance also spoke at the press conference and gave an example of why it may be more dangerous. He said that among 1,000 men in England who are 60 years or older, that the original virus would kill 10. The new variant, he said, would kill 13 or 14, the Post reports.
Over the past 10 months, labs across Michigan have been submitting samples to the state public health laboratory to help monitor the emergence of any variant strains.
