COLORADO (WAND) - Colorado discovered the first United States case of a COVID-19 variant - the same variant recently found in the United Kingdom.
Colorado Gov. Jared Polis shared the news in a media release posted to Twitter. The release said a case of the variant B.1.1.7 was found in a man in his 20s who has no history of traveling. His is in isolation in Elbert County.
The release said health officials are conducting a thorough investigation. No close contacts of the case have been identified so far, officials said, and leaders are working to identify other potential cases and contacts in contact tracing interviews.
The man will be in isolation until public health officials clear him.
Polis said UK scientists are warning the world that this variant is "significantly more contagious" than COVID-19.
Today we discovered Colorado’s first case of the COVID-19 variant B.1.1.7, the same variant discovered in the UK.
— Governor Jared Polis (@GovofCO) December 29, 2020
The health and safety of Coloradans is our top priority and we will monitor this case, as well as all COVID-19 indicators, very closely. pic.twitter.com/fjyq7QhzBi
Earlier in December, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention had said this COVID-19 variant could be circulating undetected in the United States.
In a piece of good news regarding this variant, U.S. coronavirus vaccine czar Moncef Slaoui has said Pfizer and Moderna vaccines should be effective against new strains of COVID-19.
