Health officials say a woman in her 50s who lives in both Philadelphia and Bucks County was found to have the British variant.
The lab at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania was asked by city health officials to test this case.
She became ill at the end of December. She was briefly hospitalized and is now recovering. She was in contact with someone who became infected after a trip to England.
“I would have been surprised if it wasn’t in Philadelphia and now we know it is, or at least close,” said Frederic Bushman, Ph.D., a microbiologist at the University of Pennsylvania.
He and his team discovered the case. It is the first of the B.1.1.7 variant, the so-called British variant, in Southeast Pennsylvania.
“The variant has spread nationally and globally,” Bushman said.
In fact, a new report from the CDC warns it could take over the predominant variant in March unless new mitigation action is taken.
Early research shows it can spread more quickly, which would exacerbate the already spiraling pandemic.
Still, Bushman says it’s no cause for alarm. Rather, it is a reminder to do everything you can to slow the spread of the virus.
“What works is wearing masks, social distance, washing hands, avoiding crowds, people have to take routine precautions and it works against this species, works against other species,” he said.
This includes getting the vaccine when it’s available.
Researchers say the vaccine will still work against these variants.
But Bushman says this is something they will continue to monitor with this and other variants of the virus.
This is the second case of the variant found in Pennsylvania. In the first case, a patient from Dauphin County experienced mild symptoms.
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