Serving O'Brien & Clay Counties
Serving O'Brien & Clay Counties
U.K. strain found in Johnson, Bremer counties; experts say spread likely greater
Monday's case counts only represent the variant strains that are confirmed through genomic sequencing, and may not accurately reflect the true number of variant cases.
The Iowa Department of Public Health (IDPH) on Monday confirmed three cases of the COVID-19 variant, SARS-CoV-2 B.1.1.7., in Iowa.
The virus variant is often referred to as the U.K. variant because it was first detected in the United Kingdom. Based on epidemiologic and modeling data, researchers believe that the B.1.1.7 strain can be spread more easily than the original COVID-19 strain. Current vaccines are considered to be effective against the variant strain.
"Viruses constantly change through mutation, and new variants of a virus are expected to occur over time," said Dr. Caitlin Pedati, st...
