First Brazilian COVID-19 Variant Found In Lake County Resident

LAKE COUNTY, Ill. - The first case of a new Brazilian variant of the COVID-19 coronavirus has been identified in Lake County, according to a press release by county officials.

The case was discovered in an undisclosed Lake County resident. County health officials are currently investigating, but the person's travel history remains unknown at this time. "This is the second new variant of COVID-19 to be identified in Lake County since February, and the rise of these new variants could impact the progress we made this year," said Lake County Health Department executive director Mark Pfister. "We can't afford to let our guard down."

The Brazilian strain is now the second variant of COVID-19 to be found in Lake County. A variant from the United Kingdom, B.1.1.7, was first identified in a Lake County resident on March 5, and since then county officials have identified multiple cases. County health officials stressed that these cases of the U.K. variant were most likely due to "domestic or international travel."

Cases of the Brazilian COVID-19 variant, known as P.1, have been rising steadily in the United States. Initial cases of the strain were identified in California on Monday and in Massachusetts on Tuesday. County health officials noted that the actual number of variant cases in Illinois is probably much greater than currently accounted for.

"While we have an identified a limited number of variant cases in our county, they are most certainly an underestimate of the number of actual cases," said Dr. Sana Ahmed, a Lake County Health Department medical epidemiologist. "We need our community's help to curb the spread of the virus while we work to vaccinate our residents as quickly as possible. It is crucial to continue to follow quarantine recommendations if you have traveled or have been in close contact with someone who has tested positive for COVID-19."

The Brazilian P.1 variant was first identified globally among flyers at Haneda Airport in Tokyo, Japan in January 2021, and was found in the United States later that month. However, early CDC studies suggest that the three currently approved American vaccines are effective against both the Brazilian and U.K. variant.