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WASHTENAW COUNTY, MI – There are now seven cases associated with a Washtenaw County woman who contracted a variant of COVID-19, Washtenaw County health officials confirmed on Tuesday.
Officials are awaiting the results of lab work done by the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services to determine whether these positive cases are variant B.1.1.1.7, said Susan Ringler-Cerniglia, spokesperson for the Department of Health and Human Services. Washtenaw County Health Jan. 19.
Michigan’s first case of this variant of COVID-19 was identified in the Washtenaw County woman on Saturday, January 16. The person recently traveled to the UK, where variant B.1.1.7., Is from, officials said.
Contagious coronavirus variant identified in Michigan
Although the presence of this variant is detected with current testing methods, additional sequencing is needed to distinguish it from other more common COVID-19 variants circulating in the community, officials said.
The woman tested negative on Jan.1 in the UK, before returning to Washtenaw County on Jan.3, according to Ringler-Cerniglia. She tested negative for COVID-19 twice before testing positive on Jan.8, officials said.
The B.1.1.7 variant appears to be more contagious but not necessarily more serious than the primary strain of COVID-19, health officials said. Based on current evidence, health officials have also said that the current COVID-19 vaccine is effective against this variant.
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