The new strain of COVID-19 has been detected in more people in the state, as indicated by State Health Commissioner Dr. Kristina Box.
“We have now seen at least four cases of United Kingdom B117 strain in Indiana,” stated Dr. Box. “In total, more than 122 cases have been identified in at least 20 states. As a reminder, this strain is a mutation of the virus and it is more easily transmitted than the strain we were dealing with up until now.”
During Governor Holcomb’s press briefing Thursday afternoon, Dr. Box said yet another variant of the coronavirus has been detected.
“There are also reports of other mutations including one that has been detected in South Africa. This new strain behaves much like the UK variant and also is more transmissible. It has not been detected yet in North America, but we continue to monitor closely for this mutation.”
Dr. Box commented that the variants have a particular change that can be detected when conducted a routine COVID-19 test on a patient.
“When we see that particular change in those tests on these two particular machines that will indicate to us that it has a higher likelihood of being this mutation, or a different mutation, and so we can selectively send those off. There are a couple of sites here in the State of Indiana that are doing that also.”
They can also look into more information to determine how the patient may have picked up the variant.
Dr. Box highly encourages resident to use best practices to continue to slow the spread of COVID-19 which will help protect against all other viruses.
