The first known US case of a coronavirus variant from Brazil was confirmed Monday, according to the Minnesota Department of Health (MDH). COVID-19 Brazil P.1 was detected in a person from the Twin Cities area who recently traveled to Brazil, CBS Minnesota reports.
The person was ill during the first week of January and was tested coronavirus on January 9.
The case was discovered by MDH through a random audit that the agency conducts weekly. Fifty samples were collected from testing partners, including the University of Minnesota clinical laboratories and the Infinity Biologix Laboratory in Oakdale.
Minnesota Commissioner of Health Jan Malcolm stressed the importance of the testing program and why it is important to limit the spread of COVID-19.
“The fewer people get COVID-19, the fewer chances the virus has to evolve,” Malcolm said in a statement. “The good news is that we can slow the spread of this variant and all COVID-19 variants by using proven prevention methods: wearing masks, keeping a social distance, staying home in case of illness and getting tested if necessary.”
According to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Brazilian variant was “first identified in four travelers from Brazil, who were tested during routine screening at Haneda Airport outside Tokyo, Japan.”
An additional variant, the B 1.1.7 variant or the UK variant, has also been found in several countries, including the US and Canada. A South African variant known as 1,351 has yet to be detected in the US.
The US marked a stark milestone earlier this week when COVID-19 cases exceeded 25 million, according to data reported by Johns Hopkins University. 99 million cases have been reported worldwide.
Nearly 421,000 people have died from COVID-19 in the US, while more than 2.1 million people worldwide have died from COVID-19.