BOSTON (CBS) – A man in his twenties from Worcester County is the second person in Massachusetts to be diagnosed with the UK’s COVID-19 variant, the health department confirmed Wednesday.
The British variant, also known as B.1.1.7., Spreads faster than other variants. It is thought to be up to 70 percent more transmissible than the original strain, but the CDC says there is no evidence that it is more deadly.
“It can infect more cells in a person’s nose or mouth, and because it infects more cells, more virus is produced,” said Dr. Richard Ellison of UMass Memorial Medical Center on WBZ-TV earlier this week.
The first case of this variant in Massachusetts was reported on Sunday, January 17. A Boston woman in her twenties traveled to the UK and felt sick the day after she returned. She had tested negative for COVID before leaving the UK.
According to the CDC, there are now at least 122 cases of the variant in the US.