State braces for new variant

Experts say more infectious strain of virus may already be in Connecticut

As a new, more infectious strain of COVID-19 creeps closer to Connecticut, officials and health experts remain unsure what effect the variant will have on the state.

The B117 strain, originally discovered in the United Kingdom, has now been traced to four U.S. states and has likely begun to circulate in others. On Monday, the variant was detected in Saratoga County, New York, in a man who had not recently traveled out of state.

Though the strain has not yet been found in Connecticut, local health experts say it might very well be here. In addition to New York, it has so far been detected in Colorado, California and Florida.

“I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s circulating in Connecticut,” said Keith Grant, system director for infection prevention at Hartford HealthCare. “I don’t have the data to prove that right now, but it wouldn’t be overly surprising for me.”

UConn Health epidemiologist Dr. David Banach said he thinks “there’s a reasonable chance that [the new strain] is already here in Connecticut.”

“As least some of the cases in the U.S. don’t have any travel links to England, so it’s reasonable to assume it’s scattered through the United States,” Banach said. “The extent of it, we don’t know yet.”

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the B117 variant “has been predicted to potentially be more rapidly transmissible than other circulating strains” of COVID-19. That means when it arrives in Connecticut, if it hasn’t already, the state could see an increase in its COVID-19 caseload, leading to more hospitalizations and deaths.

Physicians say the way to avoid this strain is the same as with other COVID19 variants: wear a mask, avoid gatherings and maintain social distance.

“Honestly, there are a lot of unknowns right now, so I wouldn’t want people to be overly alarmed,” said Dr. John Schreiber, a specialist in infectious disease and immunology at Connecticut Children’s. “On the other hand, to me it reinforces the need for common-sense public-health measures that we already know: wear your mask, stay apart from people you don’t know, don’t travel unless you have to.”

There is currently no evidence, according to the CDC, that the new strain causes more severe illness or higher mortality than others. And experts say they expect existing COVID-19 vaccines to work against it. Any uptick in cases due to the infectiousness of the new strain could be countered by progress in vaccine distribution.

But one key difference in the variant could have implications in Connecticut and elsewhere. Early research has suggested the new strain spreads more easily in children than previous ones, potentially complicating the debate over in-person vs. remote schooling.

Gov. Ned Lamont, a staunch proponent of in-person classes, reiterated Monday that classrooms have been relatively safe for students, but said he would rethink his position if research on the new variant warranted it.

“If the facts change and research takes us in a different direction, absolutely,” he said.

Grant and Banach both said they didn’t think the new strain needed to affect school-opening decisions — at least for now.

“If we start to see more cases of transmission occurring in schools, I think that’s the most important factor,” Banach said. “But I don’t know if just these characteristics alone of the virus variants would be enough to direct those kinds of changes.”

In t he meantime, Schreiber said, school districts should continue to test when possible, keep students home when they’re sick and quarantine those who have been exposed to COVID-19, as they have done so far this school year.

In addition to the new British strain of COVID-19, scientists have identified another variant, first discovered in South Africa, that is believed to be even more infectious. That strain has not yet been detected in the U.S., though Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, has warned that it may already have arrived.

Officials say residents should respond to the new variants by doubling down on what has already proven successful. Because the mode of transmission is no different, neither are the safeguards.

“How we’re prepared is by doing the things we’ve been doing all along,” said Dr. Deidre Gifford, acting commissioner of public health. “The way to manage the appearance of this new UK strain is by wearing a mask, avoiding gatherings with people outside your household, keeping your physical distance.”

As Banach explained, the new strain attaches more readily to receptors in the body but is not known to travel more easily through air or linger longer. Therefore, preventative strategies — masking, six feet of distance, etc. — won’t likely change.

“These viruses, they don’t seem to have characteristics that make them travel farther or more difficult to destroy with disinfection processes,” Banach said. “I think the same types of measures apply, it just reinforces that we have to be extra vigilant in applying them.”