:strip_exif(true):strip_icc(true):no_upscale(true):quality(65)/d1vhqlrjc8h82r.cloudfront.net/02-12-2021/t_a5ffd34bc844473f8a6b06cb4ceaf718_name_image.jpg)
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Duval County Health Department confirmed on Friday that a case of COVID first identified in the UK had been found in Jacksonville. But health experts warn that the number could actually be much higher.
According to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention updated Thursday night, 347 cases of this variant B.1.1.7 were found in Florida. That more than a third of the 981 cases identified in the United States so far.
Last week, 825,000 cases of COVID-19 were identified in the United States, according to the CDC, while only an average of 6,000 samples each week receive the genomic sequencing needed to detect the variant.
Also, while standard COVID-19 tests return in a few hours or days, additional testing to identify the variant takes much longer, according to UF Health Director of Infectious Diseases Chad Neilsen.
Ad
“Here in our hospital, if I chose to send him to a referral center – if I sent him today, I probably wouldn’t have results for a few weeks,” Neilsen said.
This is because only specially equipped laboratories can test the variants.
“The vast majority of those (347 cases) are actually sequenced outside of Florida – at a research center in California,” Neilsen said. “We just don’t have the robust ability in Florida or the United States to do this on a large scale.”
Neilsen thinks I’ve seen most cases in Florida because a lot of people travel here.
“You also have a variety of laws and mandates in every county, and I think that inhibits us as a state from controlling COVID,” Neilsen said.
If there is good news, it is believed that both vaccines currently given to the elderly and health workers are considered effective against the variant, according to a spokeswoman for the health department.
Ad
Research published Thursday in the Journal of the American Medical Association suggests that a variant first identified in the Los Angeles area last year accounted for about 44% of cases in Southern California by the end of January, almost double a month earlier. Co-author of the study, Jasmine Plummer, a Cedars-Sinai researcher, said more research is needed to determine whether the variant spreads more easily than other COVID-19 variants or causes more disease.
Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation’s leading expert on infectious diseases, wrote in an accompanying editorial that new variants are likely to continue to appear until the virus spreads.
This announcement of a variant in Jacksonville comes a day after a student from the University of Central Florida was diagnosed with the British version of the coronavirus, which is believed to be more easily transmitted. The unidentified student gave positive results this week, Michael Deichen, associate vice president of UCF Student Health Services, said on Thursday in a statement on the university’s website.
Ad
The University of Orlando is one of the largest in the country, with over 66,000 students. University officials said the student is isolated and that follow-up measures have been taken.
“The tools we use to combat this variant are no different from the steps we have taken for almost a year,” said Deichen. “COVID-19 and these new variants are not easy to transmit when the face covering is worn. correctly, the physical distance is maintained and the hands are sanitized regularly. “
The Florida Department of Health announced the first case of the British version of the state late last year, and the state now leads the nation in variant cases, with nearly 350 confirmed diagnoses, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Tens of thousands of students across the country tested positive for the virus, and some campuses saw increases in cases where students returned to campus.
Copyright 2021 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.