Boone County Records First U.K. Variant COVID-19 Case

The Columbia/Boone County Health Department is reporting the 1st positive case of the U.K. variant COVID-19 today (Thursday).

According to a press release the health department has completed the case investigation and contact tracing for the patient and in order to protect the patient’s privacy, no other information will be shared at this time.

The variant was first detected in the United Kingdom in December 2020.

According to the CDC, the variant has become the most common strain of the COVID-19 virus in the United States.

Scientists and medical experts continue to study these variants to better understand their effect.

At this time, studies suggest that antibodies generated through vaccination of the currently available vaccines are effective against these variants but more studies are ongoing.

Evidence from the U.K. indicates that this variant spreads much more quickly through the population and, given that fact, may rapidly increase the number of hospitalizations and deaths.

More studies are needed to confirm this finding.

For this reason, it is essential to continue with COVID-19 mitigation protocols including getting the COVID-19 vaccine, social distancing from others, wearing a mask, staying home when sick and washing hands regularly, to protect public health.