Health department officials say initial evidence of coronavirus variants in the state means people should continue mitigation efforts.
State epidemiologist Josh Clayton says they have found only two cases of the B.1.1.7 variant so far in Minnehaha County. He believes more people have already been infected.
“The B.1.1.7 variant as we’ve identified, is likely to represent larger transmission within the community because we are not able to do genomic sequencing on all the specimens that are tested.”
Clayton says the state uses a sentinel program to monitor for emerging coronavirus variants. The method tests a random sample of individuals from a community.
Clayton reports the state is seeing a higher COVID-19 infection rate compared to last year.
“About 150 cases over the past week compared to a median about 60 cases over a week during the summer of 2020.”
Clayton says the new variant can cause more severe infections and increases the potential for hospitalization and death. He says federally approved COVID vaccines are effective against severe illness.