Fast-spreading COVID-19 variant has arrived in Utah

SALT LAKE CITY – The first case of the highly transmissible variant of COVID-19 in Utah was reported Friday in a Salt Lake County man aged 25 to 44 who tested positive last month but did not has not traveled out of state and exhibited only mild symptoms.

“We had fully anticipated that we would find this strain in Utah,” said state epidemiologist Dr. Angela Dunn, informing that it is more important now for the Utahns to continue to follow the same guidelines. health programs aimed at slowing the spread of the deadly virus, such as wearing a mask.

“We know this strain is more transmissible than previous variants of COVID-19, and our hospitals continue to operate at near or excessive capacity,” she said. “So now more than ever, the people of Utah must wear masks, practice physical distancing and avoid large gatherings.”

Dunn said the way the variant spreads hasn’t changed, but the mutation makes it easier for the virus to enter the body and attach to cells, making people more likely to get sick. However, she said the variant didn’t seem to make people sicker or more likely to die and that it responded to existing vaccines.

Kelly Oakeson, a genomics researcher at the Utah Public Health Laboratory, said he believes the variant is already more prevalent, given that only about 10% of positive samples in the state are sequenced to determine if the strain is present.

The news comes as the state reported 2,543 new cases of the coronavirus and 12 more deaths. As of Friday, an additional 12,985 Utahns were tested for the deadly virus and the seven-day moving averages for positive tests are 2,391 per day and 25% for the percentage of positive lab tests.

There have now been 320,102 cases of COVID-19 in Utah since the pandemic began last March.

The Utah Department of Health has confirmed the first case in the state of what is frequently referred to as the ‘British variant,’ a mutation that has led to a lockdown in Britain. The viral strain is spreading about 50% faster, according to British researchers, and is expected to lead to a rapid increase in new cases across the United States.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention warned Friday that the variant, which was first detected in the United States late last month in Colorado, could become the country’s predominant COVID-19 strain by March and accelerate the already rapid increase in cases.

Only 76 cases of the variant were reported in the United States by the CDC on Wednesday, in California, Colorado, Texas, Florida, Georgia, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Indiana, New York, Connecticut, in Pennsylvania and Maryland. That number rose to 88 on Friday, including the case in Utah and others in New Mexico and Nebraska.

Utah health officials had genetically sequenced COVID-19 positive samples to test for the variant, and the Salt Lake County Department of Health conducted what was described as a routine investigation and contact tracing of the case.

Oakeson said that while the United States is lagging behind other countries in the process used to detect the variant, Utah is one of the states that is stepping up its efforts. He said Utah should soon have the capacity to handle the sequencing of 3,000 test samples every other day.

Shortage of vaccine stocks

Also on Friday, Utah and other states learned that there were no vaccine supplies available to increase the number of doses being distributed, although Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar said more early this week that vaccines held for second doses would be released, potentially doubling what states would receive.

Rich Lakin, director of immunization for the Utah Department of Health, told Deseret News the department was briefed on Friday by the head of Operation Warp Speed, who oversees vaccine distribution, that states should not expect more than 2% to 5% more doses because that is all that has been put aside.

Lakin said Utah had not expected to get more than the roughly 33,000 doses already allocated, according to population and shared with drugstore chains that vaccinate patients and staff at long-term care facilities, se calling it “very skeptical” about the possibility of a sudden windfall.

“They did not convey the message very well,” he said, after the Washington Post announced Friday that there were no stocks of the vaccine. Lakin said Operation Warp Speed ​​was caught off guard by Azar’s announcement: “It was a surprise to them, by the way, when the Trump administration said, ‘We’re releasing all doses. . ‘”

President-elect Joe Biden’s transition team said earlier this month that the new administration would release all doses in an attempt to get more people vaccinated more quickly, something Britain has already done.

Some states, like Oregon, were relying on the extra doses Azar promised as efforts were underway to vaccinate older Americans as well as those with underlying health conditions. Oregon Governor Kate Brown, a Democrat, called it a “nationwide deception.”

Utah Governor Spencer Cox was more measured.

“We continue to work with outgoing and incoming administrations to get more clarity on the amount and timing of vaccines arriving in our state,” Cox, a Republican, said in a statement. “We hope that we will soon see an increase in the quantity of vaccines.”

Utah death toll: 1,472

Utah’s 13 local health departments begin immunizing residents 70 and older, after frontline hospitals and other healthcare workers, long-term care patients, staff and staff emergency services, first responders, teachers and school personnel.

The state said Friday that 142,751 doses of the vaccine had given, according to a health department survey, an increase of 9,544.

Currently, 584 people are hospitalized with COVID-19, bringing the total number of hospitalizations in the state to more than 12,300. The death toll from the virus in Utah has now reached 1,472. The 12 reported deaths Friday are:

• Two men from Salt Lake County, both aged 45 to 64, both of whom were hospitalized at the time of their deaths.
• Two men from Salt Lake County, aged 65 to 84, both hospitalized.
• Two men from Salt Lake County, aged 65 to 84, residents of a long-term care facility.
• A woman from Salt Lake County, over 85, a resident of a long-term care facility.
• A woman from Tooele County, aged 65 to 84, hospitalized.
• A man from Utah County, over 85, hospitalized.
• A man from Washington County, aged 65 to 84, a resident of a long-term care facility.
• A man from Weber County, 65-84, residing in a long-term care facility.
• A Weber County woman, aged 65 to 84, who was not hospitalized at the time of her death.