SPRINGFIELD, Mo. (KY3) - A Greene County resident has tested positive for a COVID-19 variant.
The resident tested positive for UK variant B.1.1.7 in a sample from the beginning of March, according to an announcement Friday from the Springfield-Greene County Health Department.
The B.1.1.7 variant is classified as a variant of concern by the CDC. It is up to 50% more transmissible and there is also evidence of more severe disease based on hospitalizations and case
Local health leaders say they knew this was coming. Dr. Robin Trotman, with CoxHealth, said as more people contract COVID-19, it gives the virus more chances to mutate and become stronger.
“We really have to pay attention to what’s happening around the world because we are not special here in the United States and we are naive to think that we somehow have safeguards in place,” Trotman said.
The Springfield-Greene County Health Department reported the person who tested positive for a variant that originated in the UK had not traveled. Trotman believes that person was likely exposed to someone who had traveled through a chain of other people.
“Really people should think about variants being just a little alteration in its ability to bind to our receptors can make a smaller dose of virus make you more sick,” he said.
This variant is considered concerning simply because doctors aren’t sure if it’s resistant to different immunities or treatments. However, Kendra Findley, Administrator for Community Health and Epidemiology with the Springfield-Greene County Health Department, said all three major vaccines will still work against it.
“They all have good efficacy for the B.1.17,” she said.
Findley and Trotman said the variant is potentially more contagious.
“That really is more of the concern when we’re talking about letting up on restrictions and getting together more, which is what we’re all desperate to do right now,” Findley said.
“If we don’t want these more varialant variants to become dominant, then we have to not give the virus ways to reproduce,” Trotman said.
The person’s sample was randomly selected and tested by the Center for Disease Control as part of its genomic surveillance program.
“With 100% certainty, there are more of these variants in our area because we’re sampling such a small fraction of the viruses and so it would be naive to think this is a one-off,” Trotman said.
Findley, with the health department, said experts plan to increase testing to find out how many cases of variants could be in the Greene County region. Results should come out in the coming weeks or months.
A COVID-19 variant has one or more mutations that differentiate it from other variants in circulation. Multiple variants have been documented in the United States.
“We knew that it was only a matter of time before we located the variant in our community,” said Acting Health Director Katie Towns in a news release. “We will stay vigilant and watch closely the indicators we are using to monitor the situation currently, including case counts and hospitalizations. Disease will spread as we move toward removing occupancy limitations and now that we have evidence that this variant is in our community, it makes it more important than ever for people to get vaccinated as soon as possible and protect against the severity of illness associated with the variant.”
The only other such B.1.1.7 variant in Missouri was reported in February and identified from a Marion County resident.
SGCHD offers the following recommendations to combat the spread of COVID-19 variants:
-Wearing a mask
-Watching your distance
-Washing your hands
-Getting vaccinated
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