Public health officials on Tuesday announced that the COVID-19 variant first identified in South Africa has been detected in Washington’s King County, and the number of patients in the state with the UK variant has doubled since last week, with a total of 39 cases detected.
“I’m very concerned how this is going to affect our trajectory, so this is now the time to really double down on all the efforts [to prevent COVID spread],” said Dr. Scott Lindquist, acting Health Officer for the state, in a video conference call.
The South African variant, known as B.1.351, was found using genomic sequencing at the University of Washington Medicine Virology Laboratory. The sample was from a patient who tested positive for the virus Jan. 29. Health officials have not been able to reach the patient through contact tracing, so the person’s travel history or other possible routes of exposure remain unknown.
The state is currently decoding the genotype of about 2% of samples that are positive for COVID, which puts Washington in the top five states for sequencing, officials said. But it’s not enough.
“I do not think we are doing enough surveillance that is representative,” Lindquist said. “And the other concern here is, is it representative of every community in Washington state?”
The state is partnering with the UW, private labs in Seattle and the state public health lab in order to increase the rate of sequencing to capture 5% of COVID positive samples.
As the variants spread, officials reminded people to continue taking steps to protect themselves and their communities, including wearing well-fitted masks, maintaining social distancing, washing hands and getting vaccinated. While the vaccines appear less effective against the South African strain, they can still prevent severe COVID cases, hospitalizations and deaths for patients with this strain and others, health officials said.
“”Our vaccines that are currently authorized are incredibly effective against B.1.1.7, highly protective, and there’s no reason at this point to assume that the South African B.1.351 variant is going to become predominant,” said Dr. Jeff Duchin, the top health officer for Public Health – Seattle & King County.
In Washington, close to 13% of the population has received an initial dose of a COVID vaccine, and more than 5% are fully vaccinated.
As with the rest of the country, the rate of COVID infections continues declining in Washington state and King County, which includes Seattle, Bellevue and Redmond. Given the steady decrease, the state has been loosening restrictions to allow people to dine and drink inside restaurants and bars, and has permitted reopening other in-person businesses. The entire state is currently operating under Phase Two level restrictions.
But given the increase in COVID variants of concern, state officials are reconsidering how to proceed.
“Should we take stock of where we are, look for these variants, before we make other decisions?” said Lindquist. “This is an ongoing discussion right now with the governor and the governor’s office, so more to come on that.”
Washington has not detected the presence of the Brazilian variant of COVID.
There is increasing concern about a variant found in California that is known as B.1.427/B.1.429. Like the British variant, the California strain appears to spread more easily, but it’s unclear if it is more deadly or will prove more resistant to vaccines.
Washington is not currently tracking the California variant, which is not yet officially a “variant of concern” as defined by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The website Outbreak.info, a project run by labs at Scripps Research, is tracking B.1.429. It reports that the variant was first seen in Washington at the end of November and that there are 156 documented cases in the state. The researchers estimate that it represents 9% of infections and was last detected in Washington on Feb. 3.
In California, where the variant was first found in the U.S. on July 13, it accounts for approximately 21% of cases. The strain is officially a “variant under investigation.”
Editor’s note: This story was updated to include information on the presence of the California variant in Washington state.
