Gov. Jared Polis and officers introduced Denver and various different Colorado counties might be moved to Degree Crimson on a newly revamped model
Gov. Jared Polis and officers introduced Denver and various different Colorado counties might be moved to Degree Crimson on a newly revamped model of the state”u2019s color-coded COVID-19 dial at Boettcher Mansion in Denver, Colorado on Tuesday. November 17, 2020.
Hyoung Chang | Denver Publish | Getty Pictures
WASHINGTON — Colorado well being officers mentioned Wednesday they’re investigating a possible second case of a brand new and doubtlessly extra infectious pressure of Covid-19.
“There’s nonetheless loads we do not find out about this variant,” Colorado Governor Jared Polis mentioned Wednesday, advising Coloradans to proceed to abide by CDC tips into the brand new 12 months.
On Tuesday, Colorado well being officers confirmed the nation’s first case of the B.1.1.7 coronavirus variant.
The contaminated particular person, a person in his 20s, doesn’t have a historical past of touring and is in isolation with delicate signs, officers mentioned Tuesday.
The confirmed case in addition to the second affected person are each members of the Colorado Nationwide Guard. Each people had been supporting the Good Samaritan Society assisted residing facility in Simla, about an hour and a half south of Denver.
Officers mentioned Wednesday that there have been a complete of six Colorado Nationwide Guard members working on the facility.
“Each of those instances are Colorado Nationwide Guard personnel who had been deployed to help staffing on the Good Samaritan Society nursing house in Simla,” defined the state’s high epidemiologist Dr. Rachel Herlihy of the Colorado Division of Public Well being and Atmosphere.
She added that the people had been examined on December 24th on the state lab, a routine measure for Nationwide Guard members working in shut proximity of Covid-19 sufferers or areas liable to outbreak.
“Proper now we’re at present investigating two prospects for a way these people could have acquired their infections,” Herlihy mentioned.
“Given the detection of the variant in Colorado, the Facilities for Medicare and Medicaid Companies have allowed us to briefly pause visitation for nursing properties in the interim in order that that inhabitants will be vaccinated rapidly,” Polis mentioned.
“Not solely is the well being threat felt extra acutely by older Coloradans, however social isolation is a troublesome and emotional piece that so many residents of nursing properties have confronted,” he mentioned, including that the measure will safeguard the state’s older group.
Dr. Emily Travanty, director of the Laboratory Companies Division on the Colorado Division of Public Well being and Atmosphere, mentioned officers are at present analyzing 24 suspicious samples which will comprise mutations. She defined that there was not adequate knowledge to hyperlink the extra 24 samples to the B.1.1.7 variant.
On a Wednesday name with reporters, Dr. Henry Walke of the Facilities for Illness Management and Prevention mentioned that the brand new variant seems to unfold “extra simply and rapidly than different strains.” Walke additionally mentioned it doesn’t appear to end result it worse infections or an elevated threat of loss of life.
Walke mentioned that the person in Colorado who was contaminated with the brand new pressure of the virus didn’t have a journey historical past, which “suggests this variant has been transmitted from individual to individual in the USA.”
He added that contemplating how extensively the variant has unfold within the U.Ok., the arrival of it within the U.S. “was anticipated.”
Preliminary evaluation of the brand new variant, first recognized within the U.Ok., suggests it could be the perpetrator behind Britain’s latest spike in instances.
The CDC mentioned in December that the brand new pressure may already be circulating within the U.S. with out discover. The CDC cited ongoing journey between the U.Ok. and the U.S. as an evidence for the potential arrival of the brand new variant.
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The invention of the pressure in Britain sparked border closures in European international locations like Eire, France, Belgium and Germany in addition to international locations outdoors the continent.
Final week, the British authorities confirmed that one other infectious variant of the coronavirus recognized in South Africa had additionally emerged in the UK. The pressure from South Africa has not but been recognized in the USA.