News Colorado detects first case of the COVID-19 variant B.1.1.7, the same variant discovered in the UK

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Today we discovered Colorado’s first case of the COVID-19 variant B.1.1.7, the same variant discovered in the UK. 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.

BREAKING: The first U.S. case of the U.K. COVID-19 variant has been detected in Colorado, Colorado Gov. Jared Polis announced in a tweet.

Colorado officials on Tuesday reported the first known case in the United States of a person infected with the mutation-laden coronavirus variant that has been circulating rapidly across much of the United Kingdom and has led to a lockdown of much of southern England.

The case involves a male in his 20s who is currently in isolation in Elbert County and has no travel history, according to a tweet from the office of Gov. Jared Polis.

While the variant appears to spread more easily, it does not make people sicker or more likely to die, scientists in the United Kingdom reported Tuesday. Nor is there any sign that people who were infected months ago with the coronavirus are more likely to be reinfected if exposed to the variant, according to the report, from Public Health England, a government agency.

Scientists also believe these mutations will not allow the virus to escape the immune response incited by vaccines. But it does appear to be more transmissible.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/coronavirus-variant-colorado-us/2020/12/29/8e6379fc-4a01-11eb-a9f4-0e668b9772ba_story.html