CHRISTIANSBURG — The first case of the SARS-Co-V-2 variant B.1.351 has been confirmed in an adult resident of Southwest Virginia who recently returned from international travel.
Dr. Noelle Bissell, the health director of the New River Health District saw the appearance of the variant as a call for increased vigilance. “We are in a race to stop the spread of these new variants, and it’s time to double down on personal precautions,” Dr. Bissell said in her recent weekly news briefing. “It is critical that all Virginians comply now with mitigation measures. The more people that become infected, the greater the chance the virus will mutate and a variant will arise that could undermine all our vaccination efforts.”
The health district director pointed out that public health recommendations for stopping the spread of COVID-19 will work for all COVID-19 variants. These include wearing masks correctly, practicing physical distancing, avoiding crowds and prolonged close contact, washing hands often, getting vaccinated for COVID-19 when it is your turn, and staying home if you are infected with COVID-19 or if you have had close contact with someone with COVID-19.
In addition to this case of the B.1.351 variant, two other cases of the B.1.351 variant and 12 cases of the SARS-CoV-2 B.1.1.7 variant have now been identified in Virginia, according to Dr. Bissell in a recent interview. As COVID-19 surveillance continues, additional cases with SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern will likely be identified.
Dr. Bissell reported that the B.1.351 variant is associated with increased person-to-person transmission of COVID-19, and that there is no evidence that infections with this variant cause more severe disease. To date, the B.1.351 variant has been identified in nine other U.S. states, the health district director said.
All contacts of the case have been identified and appropriately managed, the health district chief told the media.