COVID-19 variant detected in Isabella

Brazilian version also found in state

A more transmissible — and potentially more deadly — variant of the SARS-COV-2 virus has been detected in Isabella County, and a variant of the virus concerning to public health officials has been detected in Michigan.

The B.1.1.7 variant, previously detected in Clare County, is now in five of the Central Michigan District Health Department’s six counties, according to a health department social media post. The health department had previously reported that it was in four member counties: Clare, Roscommon, Gladwin and Osceola.

Late Thursday morning, CMDHD Health Officer Steve Hall confirmed that Isabella is the newest county. That leaves just Arenac County.

The variant, believed to have originated in the United Kingdom, is more transmissible than the original strain of the virus. It is also believed to cause more serious disease.

But it is also vulnerable to immune protections from the three vaccines authorized for use against COVID-19. That’s created something of a race between the virus and vaccinations.

“Because the variant is more transmissible, it has been a race to get as many people as possible vaccinated in our communities before the variant becomes the dominant strain,” Hall said in an email.

B.1.1.7 became the dominant strain in the

United Kingdom soon after it emerged last year and it is helping to drive Michigan’s surging case numbers. It was first detected in the United States in early January and in Michigan by the end of the month.

Also on Thursday, the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services announced that a second variant has been detected in Michigan. P.1, believed to have originated in Brazil, was detected by a private lab in Bay County, two counties east of Isabella.

That variant has public health officials concerned, because in addition to being more transmissible than the original strain of the SARS-COV-2 virus, its unique mutations appear to provide it with some ability to evade the immune system.

It is also suspected that the two primary vaccinations — the two-shot MRNA Pfizer and Moderna vaccines — are less effective in preventing disease caused by the variant. It is also possible that it can cause a reinfection in people previously infected by the original strain.

The variant was first detected by travelers trying to enter Japan from Brazil in late January. It was first detected in the United States in late January in Minnesota.

Cases of the disease continue to increase across Isabella, Gratiot and Clare counties.

An additional 29 new confirmed cases were reported in Isabella County on Thursday, bringing its cumulative total to 3,915, with 76 deaths.

Some of those cases come from Central Michigan University, which reported Thursday an additional 12 cases within its community on Wednesday. Because reporting from agency to agency takes time to catch up, it’s impossible to tell just how many of Isabella County’s new cases are from CMU. The university’s seven-day average for new cases increased to 6.57 based on that data, however.

The county’s sevenday rolling average for new confirmed and probable cases, according to a county-level dashboard hosted by the Brown University School of Public Health, has increased to 31.9 based on Monday’s data. That remains almost 20 lower than the state’s seven-day average of 51.4.

It’s seven-day average for test positivity based on Wednesday’s data stood at 8.42. A high percentage of diagnostic tests returning a positive result indicates a high likelihood that the disease is spreading beyond the ability to testing to catch it all.

An additional 20 confirmed cases were reported in Gratiot County and an additional six confirmed cases were reported in Clare County on Thursday. Gratiot’s cumulative total increased to 2,586, with 101 deaths; Clare’s cumulative total increased to 1,496, with 68 deaths.

Gratiot County’s sevenday rolling average for probable and confirmed cases matched Isabella’s at 31.9, and it has a sevenday average of 7.63 of diagnostic tests returning a positive result.

Clare County’s sevenday rolling average for probable and confirmed cases stood at 24.5 based on Monday’s data, and its seven-day average for test positivity was 9.3 based on Wednesday’s data.

Elsewhere in mid-michigan, one new death was reported, with new and cumulative cases and deaths as follows:

• In Gladwin County, 10 new confirmed cases were reported for a cumulative total of 1,374, with 40 deaths;

• In Mecosta County, one new death was reported for a total of 23, and an additional 19 cases were reported for a cumulative total of 2,164;

• In Midland County, 59 additional new cases for a cumulative total of 5,015, with 66 deaths; and,

• In Montcalm County, an additional 44 cases were reported for a cumulative total of 3,676, with 88 deaths.

Statewide, 49 new deaths were reported for a total of 16,141 and another 6,036 cases were reported for a cumulative total of 678,295. Of those 49 deaths, 33 were discovered during a state review of death certificates.