Department of Health monitoring for new COVID strain

No sign of new variant yet in Hawaii

Hawaii health officials said they’re on the lookout for new strains of COVID-19 that have appeared in other countries and a handful of states and could potentially be more contagious.

Recent variants first discovered in the United Kingdom and South Africa have been spreading more easily and quickly than other strains and have already made their way to other countries, including Canada and the U.S. Mainland. This week Colorado and California reported the first known cases of the potentially more infectious strain in the U.S.

The Hawaii State Laboratories Division began its molecular surveillance in June and to date has performed genome sequencing on nearly 700 samples of viral RNA, according to a news release from the state Department of Health on Thursday. Neither the B1.1.7 variant nor B.1.351, the strains found in the U.K. and South Africa, respectively, have been found in Hawaii, but that does not mean the strains are not here or will not arrive in the future, the department said.

“There is no evidence these variants cause more severe illness or increase the risk of death, but research shows they spread much faster than the COVID-19 already found in Hawaii,” Health Department Director Dr. Libby Char said in a news release. “These new strains remind us how important it is to avoid large gatherings, wear masks and practice physical distancing as we usher in the new year.”

DOH is collaborating with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to detect new variants of COVID-19 and contain their spread, the news release said. The CDC has personnel in Hawaii to support investigation of viral variants should they be found.

“We are monitoring the situation closely,” said Dr. Edward Desmond, director of the State Laboratories Division. “So far there is nothing to suggest that COVID-19 vaccines are ineffective against the new variants, but we still have a lot to learn about them.”