COVID variant spreads to 10 counties
The COVID-19 variant B.1.1.7 has now been found in 10 counties in Michigan. So far, no appearance in Oakland County.
“While our numbers continue to trend overall in the right direction I’m very concerned with what we’re seeing with the new B.1.1.7 variant. We now know of 45 cases of the variant identified in Michigan across 10 counties and there will be more,’’ Dr. Joneigh Khaldun, chief executive director of the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services, said on Tuesday.
The B.1.1.7 was first found in the United Kingdom, but Khaldun said the cases in Michigan have not all been associated with someone who has traveled. That means the variant is in the general community.
“This variant is more easily spread from person to person, meaning if we’re not vigilant we could see a rise in cases, hospitalizations and deaths similar to what they saw in the U.K.,’’ Khaldun said.
The doctor said the good news is that the spread can be slowed with the typical COVID protocol - wearing masks, social distancing and hand hygiene.
“As far as our contact tracing and testing we actually are in a good place because our case numbers overall are continuing to come down,’’ Khaldun said. “We have contact tracers, we have plenty of antigen check tests. When we have identified outbreaks associated with the variant we are doing very aggressive testing, contact tracing, quarantining and isolating. We have revved up our public health response and I’m confident in what we’ve done with our local health departments and other places where we’ve seen these outbreaks.’’
Current data on the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines show they are effective against the B.1.1.7 variant.
“Viruses change and mutate when they have the opportunity to spread so getting vaccinated will not only slow the spread of the usual COVID-19 virus but it will also prevent the virus to mutate as it spreads from person to person,’’ Khaldun said.
That makes the speed of vaccination more important to stop the spread.
So far more than 1.2 million doses of vaccine have been administered in the state. About 11 percent of Michiganders ages 16 and up have received at one dose. About 25 percent of all Michiganders age 65 and up have been vaccinated.
The breakdown of the 45 B.1.1.7 variant cases in Michigan counties: Washtenaw (23), Wayne (8), Calhoun (4), Kalamazoo (4) and one each in Macomb, Charlevoix, Eaton, Kent, Sanilac and Van Buren.