COVID-19 ‘UK variant’ is present in Teton County – Buckrail

JACKSON, Wyo. – A variant of COVID-19, which sent Britain into another lockdown last month, has been discovered in Jackson Hole. The Wyoming Department of Health (WDH) confirmed the first case of the “UK variant,” or B.1.1.7 COVID-19 variant, today January 16. The variant was identified in an adult male from Teton County.

While further research is ongoing, early information suggests that exposure to the variant of the virus has occurred locally.

Dr Alexia Harrist, chief health officer and state epidemiologist at WDH, said the department was not surprised and expected the variant to be found in Wyoming at some point.

The strain is a mutation of the common COVID-19 virus that has spread around the world. Viruses evolve naturally as they are spread from person to person, which is why new flu vaccines are developed every year.

“It is not unusual for variants to emerge with viruses and this has happened during this COVID-19 pandemic,” Harrist said. “However, this strain is more transmissible than previous variants of COVID-19 and it is a serious problem.”

Harrist noted that the British variant does not appear to cause more serious illness. “But a variant that spreads more easily between people means that the number of infections could increase, leading to more illnesses, hospitalizations and deaths,” she said. “It’s something that nobody wants.”

“Thus, it is always very important for residents of Wyoming to wear masks, to practice physical distancing and to avoid large gatherings, and to stay at home when sick unless seeking medical attention.” , Harrist said.

“We also don’t want people to avoid testing if they’ve been exposed or are showing symptoms that could be COVID-19,” Harrist said. In addition to local testing options, WDH offers free in-home COVID-19 testing through the company Vault Health. These tests are available free of charge to residents of Wyoming; insurance is not necessary.

Currently licensed COVID-19 vaccines are believed to be effective against the British variant strain. Information on vaccine distribution in Wyoming can be found here.

While Wyoming’s initial case of the B.1.1.7 COVID-19 variant was discovered in a commercial health lab, the Wyoming Public Health Laboratory (WPHL) is also monitoring samples for this variant and other COVID-19s. WPHL is part of WDH.

There were 273 active covid-19 cases as of January 15 in Teton County.