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Credit: New Jersey National Guard via Flickr
Minnesota is now experiencing outbreaks of the UK variant of COVID-19 in four counties, health officials said on Friday.
Minnesota Department of Health director of infectious diseases Kris Ehresmann reports multiple cases of B.1.1.7. Variants have now been found in Scott County, Blue Earth County, and an area of St. Louis County near Aurora in the Iron Chain.
This comes in addition to Carver County, which has already seen dozens of cases of variants in recent weeks, the spread of which has been linked to sports and recreation for young people.
MDH said a 2-day COVID testing event will be held at the Aurora Community Center on Monday and Tuesday, as it selected Mankato – in Blue Earth County – as the location for its 7th permanent community vaccination site.
Scientists say the British variant of SARS-CoV-2 may be up to 70% more contagious than the most common strain of the virus, and one study has suggested that it is also potentially more deadly.
On Sunday, the Star Tribune revealed how MDH mapped the outbreak in Carver County, showing how the variant was transmitted quickly by sports teams and schools, revealing an outbreak of at least 12 infections in one school primary was linked to an individual on a sports team. with five infections.
Its increase in Minnesota has coincided with the upsurge in COVID-19 cases in the state in recent weeks, having fallen steadily since the peak in late November.
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Hospitalizations have also increased, with 316 people hospitalized with COVID-19 as of March 18, an increase of more than 100 from the recent low of 210 on March 6.
This has raised concerns among health officials who fear a further significant increase in cases before most of Minnesota’s population is vaccinated.
Ehresmann described the condition as being in a “race between the variants and the vaccine.” Cases of the South African and Brazilian variants have also been confirmed in Minnesota.
The three vaccines currently available in the United States, Pfizer / BioNTech, Moderna and Johnson & Johnson, are believed to retain their effectiveness against the British variant, although initial results are mixed for the South African and Brazilian variants.
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