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A 23-year-old Florida man is now out of solitary confinement after being the first person in the state to test positive for a new, more contagious strain of COVID-19, health officials said on Saturday.
The presence of the new strain in Martin County on the Florida Treasure Coast was first discovered Thursday thanks to random sampling of COVID-19 tests by the CDC.
The CDC is now working with the Florida Department of Health to examine more cases in the region and determine how far the new strain has spread.
It is not known when the individual tested positive, but Martin County health official Carol Ann Vitani described the patient on Saturday as “very cooperative,” following COVID-19 protocols. The person was asymptomatic and had not recently traveled out of state.
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Cases of the new strain, which originated in the UK, have also been found in Colorado and California.
It is common for viruses to change as they spread, but some health experts fear that current vaccines will be effective if COVID-19 mutates too much.
For now, this is not the case.
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“At present, experts predict little to no impact on the effectiveness of the COVID-19 vaccine,” the state said ministry of health said.
The state is rolling out the coronavirus vaccine, prioritizing its vulnerable elderly population and health workers in direct contact with patients.
Florida has vaccinated 243,107 residents, but the state’s Emergency Management Division chief said Wednesday the state was not distributing the vaccine quickly enough.
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“I know people are frustrated, and I know it’s the light at the end of the tunnel and they want to get there ASAP,” said Jared Moskowitz, who is overseeing the Florida deployment of the COVID-19 vaccine, at the Orlando Sentinel. “I know the systems put in place are not up to par.”
Florida has recorded 1,354,833 confirmed cases and 21,890 deaths from the disease.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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