SPRINGFIELD, Mo (KY3) – A Greene County resident tested positive for COVID-19.
The resident tested positive for variant B.1.1.7 in the UK in a sample in early March, according to an announcement Friday from the Springfield-Greene County Health Department.
Variant B.1.1.7 is classified as a variant of concern by the CDC. It is up to 50% more communicable and there is also evidence of a more severe disease based on hospitalizations and the case
Local health leaders say they knew this was happening. Dr. Robin Trotman, along with CoxHealth, said that as more people contract COVID-19, it gives the virus more chances to move and become stronger.
“We have to be really careful about what’s going on around the world, because we’re not special here in the United States and we’re naive to think that we have guarantees in place,” Trotman said.
The Springfield-Greene County Health Department reported that the person who tested positive for a UK variant did not travel. Trotman believes that person was probably exposed to someone who traveled through a chain of other people.
“Indeed, people should think that variants are just a small change in its ability to bind to our receptors can make a lower dose of the virus make you sick,” he said.
This variant is considered worrying because doctors are not sure if it is resistant to various immunities or treatments. However, Kendra Findley, administrator for community health and epidemiology at the Springfield-Greene County Department of Health, said all three major vaccines will continue to work against it.
“They all have a good effectiveness for B.1.17,” she said.
Findley and Trotman said the variant is potentially more contagious.
“That’s really more of a concern when we talk about giving up restrictions and meeting more, which we are all desperate to do right now,” Findley said.
“If we don’t want these more varied variants to become dominant, then we must not offer the virus ways to reproduce,” Trotman said.
The individual sample was randomly selected and tested by the Center for Disease Control as part of its genomic surveillance program.
“With 100% certainty, there are several of these variants in our area, because we take such a small fraction of viruses, so it would be naive to believe that this is a one-time,” Trotman said.
Findley, along with the health department, said experts plan to step up tests to find out how many cases of variants there may be in the Greene County area. The results should appear in the coming weeks or months.
A COVID-19 variant has one or more mutations that differentiate it from other variants in circulation. Several variants have been documented in the United States.
“We knew it was only a matter of time before we found the option in our community,” Katie Towns, interim health director, said in a news release. “We will remain vigilant and follow closely the indicators we use to monitor the current situation, including the number of cases and hospitalizations. The disease will spread as we move toward removing occupancy limits and now that we have evidence that this variant is in our community, it is more important than ever that people be vaccinated as soon as possible and protect against the severity of the diseases associated with the variant. . “
The only other such B.1.1.7 in Missouri was reported in February and identified by a Marion County resident.
SGCHD offers the following recommendations to combat the spread of COVID-19 variants:
-Wearing a mask
-Seeing the distance
-Wash your hands
-Vaccination
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