COVID-19 Variant First Detected In India Found In Connecticut

CONNECTICUT —The number of coronavirus variant cases in the state has climbed by 725 cases, according to the latest data released by the Connecticut Department of Public Health.

One of those new cases is a variant new to the state, B.1.617.2, which was first detected in India in December.

Variants of the coronavirus are watched carefully by health officials as they can be more contagious, more resistant to vaccines, or even more deadly. New coronavirus variants have been at the heart of COVID-19 surges throughout the world, most notably in the U.K.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have identified three types of coronavirus variants: variants of interest, variants of concern and variants of high consequence. The CDC has also recently introduced a new category, "substitutions of therapeutic concern," which can be found across all variants, and may be more resilient against certain man-made antibodies.

According to the BBC, B.1.617.2 is currently "spreading more quickly than two other identified subtypes of the Indian variant," B.1.617.1 and B.1.617.3. The CDC has classified it as a variant of interest, as it has all the bugs from India, as of Wednesday.

Public Health England said there was currently "insufficient evidence" to indicate that any of the variants recently detected in India cause more severe disease or make current vaccines any less effective.

Among the variants of interest currently found in Connecticut, the Brazilian P.2 has held steady for six weeks at seven cases. The variant B.1.525, which hails from Africa and Europe, went up two cases, to 13. Cases of the "New York variant" of interest B.1.526 rose from 460 to 637. Instances of the other New York bug, B.1.526.1, climbed from 105 to 152

Among the state's variants of concern, B.1.1.7 ("U.K.") is up from 1,380 to 1,849 cases. Californian variants B.1.427 crept up from 58 to 62, and B.1.429 up from 125 to 130; and Brazilian variant P.1 climbed from 27 to 40 cases. Cases of the South African variant B.1.351 rose from 16 to 23.

One substitution of therapeutic concern, E484K, was found in 557 variant cases, up from 419 last week. The other, L452R, was detected in 351 cases, a jump from 286 cases previously.

An additional 436 cases of the coronavirus were reported Thursday in the state, bringing that total to 342,718. With 31,335 tests reported, the daily positivity rate dropped more than half a point, to 1.39 percent.

The number of COVID-19 patients in hospital beds fell overnight by 15. That brings the number of those hospitalized with the coronavirus in Connecticut to 309.

Coronavirus-associated deaths across the state rose by six in the data reported Friday. The COVID-19 death toll in Connecticut now stands at 8,137.

See Also: How Effective Is The Coronavirus Vaccine In CT? New Data Released

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