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TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WCTV) – A new wrinkle in the fight against COVID-19 has emerged: A more contagious variant of the virus has been discovered in Florida.
So what does this mean for you at home?
Medical experts say this variant originated overseas, but is spreading rapidly across the world.
WCTV’s Dr Christie Alexander said she was not surprised to learn that this mutation had made its way here in Florida given what she had heard about its transmissibility.
Martin County health officials confirmed on Thursday that this variant of British origin was detected in a patient positive for COVID-19.
Dr Alexander says virus is not proving to be more deadly than we’ve seen, but it’s just another wake-up call to continue wearing masks, avoiding large gatherings and social distancing .
She also said that medical experts expected to see this difficult virus mutate during this pandemic.
“Mutations with viruses happen all the time, we see that with the general cold up to the flu virus, it is very common for viruses to molt. We just hadn’t seen one that was a functional mutation yet, ”Dr Alexander said.
Good news early on is that experts believe the COVID-19 vaccine will still provide protection against this new variant.
Dr Alexander says the biggest concern is the speed of transmission which can crush hospitals, so we’ll be keeping a close watch on what’s going on.
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