Variant Of COVID-19 Found In South Africa Has Been Found In Washington
February 23, 2021 2:44PM PST
SEATTLE (AP) – The Washington State Department of Health says the first known case of the coronavirus variant discovered in South Africa has surfaced in King County, and 19 additional cases of the variant first found in the UK have been identified.
Officials said Tuesday that the South African variant was identified through genomic sequencing at the UW Medicine Virology Laboratory.
The strain identified in the UK was first found a month ago in Washington state.
With the additional cases announced Tuesday, officials say the total number of UK variant cases in the state has reached 39.
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