Maryland Governor Larry Hogan announced on Saturday that the state has confirmed a case of a coronavirus variant initially discovered in South Africa.
The case was confirmed in an unnamed adult Baltimore resident with no travel history abroad, suggesting the variant is likely circulating in the community, the governor’s office said.
“The B.1.351 variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus that was first discovered in South Africa has been identified in Maryland,” Hogan wrote in a Tweet. “We continue to closely monitor new variants and ask Marylanders to limit transmission by wearing masks, avoiding gatherings and washing your hands.”
MARYLAND GOV. HOGAN PRESSES TO REOPEN SCHOOLS FOR HYBRID LEARNING
The news comes because Maryland has administered at least 535,638 vaccines in a state of about 6 million people. The seven-day average for daily vaccinations is over 25,000.
HOW CAN I AVOID CORONAVIRUS VARIANTS?
The state also appears to be gradually moving away from a turbulent winter in terms of the number of cases, as daily infections rose above 3,700 on Dec. 4 and again on Jan. 8 and Jan. 9, according to state data. Maryland registered less than 2,000 daily cases on Jan. 31 and Feb. 1.
The statewide positivity rate is 5.61%, with a total of about 355,600 confirmed cases and nearly 7,000 fatalities related to the new virus.
The coronavirus strain initially discovered in South Africa isn’t the only mutated strain likely to be circulating in Maryland. The governor’s office announced two confirmed cases of a highly transmissible British tribe on Jan. 12. That figure has since risen to at least eight cases, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP
Scientists believe that the British species spreads from person to person about 50% to 70% more easily, and some experts suggest the B.1.1.7 species may be even more deadly.
Early findings also suggest that vaccines will continue to be effective against the strains, although the South African strain in particular has diminished efficacy. For example, recent Novavax findings reveal that the vaccine is 89% against COVID-19 disease, but plummeted to 60% among trial volunteers in South Africa. Including volunteers with HIV, overall protection against the South African variant was 49%, the company said.
Maryland is the second state in the country to announce a case of the South African species, following earlier reports from South Carolina on Thursday.