US has more cases of new virus strain

More contagious variant first identified in the UK

Two U.S. states confirmed cases of a more contagious coronavirus strain that was first identified in the United Kingdom – and more states are likely to get similar infections.

Colorado officials said Wednesday they were investigating a possible second case of the variant, and California confirmed its first case, in the southern part of the state.

“We are aware of one confirmed and another possible case with the B.1.1.7 variant of the virus,” Colorado state epidemiologist Rachel Herlihy said Wednesday morning at a news conference.

In Colorado, both of the cases are National Guard soldiers who were deployed to support staffing at the Good Samaritan Society nursing home in Simla, Colorado, outside Denver, Herlihy said. It was not immediately clear whether the soldiers acquired the virus at the facility or elsewhere, Herlihy said, but scientists were “exploring all possibilities.”

An outbreak at the facility began in mid-December, and 20 of 34 regular staff and all 26 residents tested positive for the coronavirus, Herlihy said. Four residents died.

The soldiers were deployed to the facility Dec. 23 and were tested as routine procedure the next day. The state lab noticed hints of the potential variant. The laboratory confirmed the case and notified the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The state Health Department deployed a team to the facility Tuesday to collect samples for testing. Herlihy said there was no evidence that the variant virus is circulating in that facility. She noted that the National Guard personnel arrived “long after most of the cases associated with the outbreak had occurred.”

The nursing home said it expected to have the results of the state’s tests in the next few days. “We will continue to work closely with the state while following the CDC’s infection control measures,” Randy Fitzgerald, Good Samaritan Society regional vice president, said in a statement.

Emily Travanty, scientific director of the department’s Laboratory Services Division, said her team was working to complete analysis of the second possible sample, calling it “highly suspicious,” but it hasn’t been confirmed.

The confirmed case was a man in his 20s who experienced mild symptoms. He was in isolation at home in Arapahoe County, Herlihy said. The second possible case was also in isolation at a hotel in Lincoln County. Neither person had traveled internationally in recent weeks, suggesting the variant may be spreading in the community.

In California, Gov. Gavin Newsom confirmed the state’s first case of the variant Wednesday afternoon. He did not immediately provide details about the patient.

“We likely will be seeing reports from more states,” Anthony Fauci, the nation’s leading infectious diseases specialist, said in a video conversation with Newsom. “This is something that’s expected.”

Scientists in the United Kingdom said the variant strain, known as B.1.1.7, is more contagious than previously identified strains but not more severe. According to models, it has an increased transmission rate of 70% compared with other variants in the U.K.

“If you’re ill, instead of making only two or three other people sick, you might actually spread it to four or five people,” said Eric France, chief medical officer at the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment.

“If it’s more transmissible, that means we’ll have more cases in our communities ... more hospitalizations, more ICU beds being filled, and the potential of overwhelming our health care system.”

Researchers said COVID-19 vaccines will probably protect against the new variant.

“From what we know from experience with this mutation and other mutations, it’s unlikely to have a large impact on vaccine-induced immunity or existing immunity from previous strains,” said Greg Armstrong, director of the CDC’s Office of Advanced Molecular Detection.