More Contagious COVID Variants On The Rise In Montco: The Latest

NORRISTOWN, PA — More contagious variants of COVID-19 are continuing to spread across Pennsylvania and Montgomery County, likely the key driver in the ongoing fourth wave of the virus that has seen case counts shoot up in the county for three weeks running.

There are now a total of 80 of the variants confirmed in Montgomery County, officials said this week.

"That's misleading, because very few of our cases still are actually screened for these variants," Montgomery County Commissioner Arkoosh said.

The laboratory equipment and genomic sequencing needed to determine the existence of variants is complex and not widespread. Currently, the Pennsylvania State Lab does not have this capability, and it's been largely left up to private labs and universities to search for the variant in samples sent to them by the state.

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"The fact that we have 80 says to me that we probably have a pretty substantial amount of these variants in our community," Arkoosh added. "Many more labs are starting to look, but still not anywhere close to 100 percent" of variants have been detected.

A recent study from British scientific and technology firm Helix suggests that as many as 50 percent of Pennsylvania's new cases since Feb. 1 could be due to the variant.

Of the 80 cases confirmed in Montgomery County, 74 are the B.1.1.7 United Kingdom variant, the one that is the most widespread in America. Four more are from one California variant, one is from a second California variant, and another is from a New York variant. The New York variant is not considered "of concern" because it is not any more contagious or deadly than the original strain; the UK variant, by contrast, is significantly more contagious and possibly more lethal.

In addition to the presence of variants, Arkoosh has noted that spread in the county could also be due to a relaxation of preventative measures. Spread is occurring primarily in small gatherings in homes, at the workplace, and in schools, particularly in sporting events, according to officials.

Most of the new cases are among the younger age groups, particularly as the elderly are vaccinated. In Montgomery County, those 54 and under saw the sharpest upticks over recent weeks.

Countywide, the positivity rate leapt up to 8.1 percent this week, after sitting at 5.7 percent last week.