Maryland Governor Larry Hogan holds a press convention to deal with COVID-19 issues in Annapolis, MD on November 17.Invoice O'Leary | The Washingto
Maryland Governor Larry Hogan holds a press convention to deal with COVID-19 issues in Annapolis, MD on November 17.
Invoice O’Leary | The Washington Submit | Getty Photographs
Maryland has reported a case of the brand new, extremely transmissible Covid-19 variant first present in South Africa, marking the third case to be detected within the U.S., Gov. Larry Hogan introduced on Saturday.
The case entails an grownup resident residing within the Baltimore area with no historical past of worldwide journey, Maryland well being officers and the U.S. Facilities for Illness Management and Prevention have confirmed.
“We strongly encourage Marylanders to follow additional warning to restrict the extra threat of transmission related to this variant,” Hogan mentioned. “Please proceed to follow normal public well being and security measures, together with masks carrying, common hand washing and bodily distancing.”
The primary two U.S. instances of the South African variant, generally known as B.1.351, had been recognized in South Carolina on Jan. 28. Different variants discovered within the U.S. have originated from Britain and Brazil.
The variants do not seem to trigger extra important sickness or elevated threat of loss of life, however are believed to be extremely contagious. Well being officers are notably involved concerning the B.1.351 variant as a result of preliminary analysis suggests vaccines could also be much less efficient to combat it.
President Joe Biden signed a journey ban final week on most non-U.S. residents getting into the nation who had been not too long ago in South Africa and reinstated journey restrictions on the entry of non-U.S. residents from the U.Ok. and Brazil.
The virus has contaminated greater than 25.9 million individuals and killed at the least 436,000 individuals within the U.S. for the reason that pandemic started, based on information compiled by Johns Hopkins College.