The variant COVID strain found in the United Kingdom is now being confirmed in Illinois.
The new strain was first found in Colorado about two weeks ago and has been popping up in several other states and has now been confirmed in a Chicago patient.
State Public Health Director Dr. Ngozi Ezike says it’s not unexpected, but cautions.
“Although we have no evidence that this new variant causes more severe disease or more death, early studies do show this variant spreads easier and more quickly.”
And Ezike says that means precautions need to continue.
“So if we do not continue to wear our masks, watch our distance, and avoid gatherings, this new variant could sweep across the state as it swept across the U.K. and that would lead us back to a place where we do not want to go.”
Ezike says this new strain could very well end up being the predominant strain in Illinois in a few months.
The Illinois Department of Public Health on Sunday announced 4,162 new confirmed and probable cases of COVID-19. There were also 29 additional deaths. None were in South Central Illinois but one death apiece was reported in Madison, Randolph, and Williamson Counties in Southern Illinois.
The statewide positivity rate for the past seven days dropped to 6.1-percent. The Southern Region’s positivity rate dropped to 6.3-percent. Marion County’s rate increased slightly to 3.4-percent. The Metro East Region that includes Clinton and Washington County fell to 9.2-percent but still has less than 20-percent of Med-Surg and ICU beds available. The East Central Region’s seven-day positivity has dropped to seven percent.
