A COVID-19 variant that was previously identified in the United Kingdom has now been found in a patient in the Hays, Kansas, area, according to a news release from the Kansas Department of Health and Environment.
The UK variant, known as B.1.1.7., has now been found in 33 states in the United States, according to KDHE officials.
A case investigation is underway in western Kansas to determine how the person became infected with the variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus, as well as if others may have been exposed, the KDHE stated.
A student-athlete at Fort Hays State University was identified as the patient who tested positive for the COVID-19 variant, according to another news release on Thursday from Fort Hays State University and the Ellis County Health Department.
The Ellis Health Department and Fort Hays State University release stated that the student-athlete tested positive as part of the university’s weekly student-athlete testing program, and has been identified through whole genome sequencing as positive for the variant.
Individuals at an elevated risk will be notified through contact tracing, and KDHE is deploying a mobile lab to the university later Thursday, according to the news release.
The KDHE will conduct on-site testing, and will receive results within four hours, according to the news release, and also will collect samples to be sent to the state lab for whole-genome sequencing analysis to identify potential COVID-19 variants.
The university and health department stated that the best way to mitigate the spread of COVID-19 and its evolving variants is to continue to adhere to essential health and safety precautions, including physical distancing, wearing face masks, practicing good hygiene, staying home if ill, following isolation and quarantine recommendations and getting vaccinated as soon as it is available.
Dr. Lee Norman, Kansas secretary of health, said on Wednesday that the state has been doing genomic sequencing on Winfield, Kansas, inmates because an outbreak of COVID-19 at the correctional facility there was spreading faster than it usually does.
At the University of Kansas Health System news conference Thursday morning, Dr. Dana Hawkinson, medical director of infection prevention and control, said while they don’t know the full effect of the new variant because they don’t have the full data yet, there has been early information that the variant may spread more easily.
The virus variant binds to the receptor on bodies tighter to cause infection more readily than the original Wuhan strain virus, he said. The CDC said on Wednesday that there is mounting evidence of higher mortality, he said.
Although everyone is weary of COVID-19 precautions, people need to be more vigilant, especially this weekend around Super Bowl parties, according to the doctors.
If the COVID-19 variant is in Hays, there’s a chance it’s in Kansas City and surrounding areas, Dr. Hawkinson said. Wearing a mask and social distancing are important.
Dr. Hawkinson urged people to keep those measures going because they know those measures can decrease and help stop the spread of this disease.
Dr. David Wild, vice president of performance improvement at KU Health System, said they don’t know the population impact yet of the new variants. Last week he said he thought variants were probably already present in the Kansas City area and in the state. There will be more variant cases, he said. The difference in how the variants cause disease will be what they need to learn in the future, he said.