Posted on 03/08/2021 1:09:55 PM PST by Jyotishi
HONOLULU, Hawaii (HawaiiNewsNow) -- The state Health Department says a case of COVID with the so-called South African mutation has been detected in an Oahu adult with no history of travel.
It’s the first such infections in Hawaii. Nationally, at least 80 cases have been confirmed, the CDC said.
Officials are holding a news conference Monday to discuss the news.
WATCH LIVE: The discovery is concerning because the B.1.351 variant is known to be more transmissible.
It also contains a mutation that could make it less responsive to antibodies formed naturally by someone who has had COVID or by a vaccine.
Acting state Epidemiologist Dr. Sarah Kemble said while the discovery underscores the need for vigilance, vaccines still appear to offer good protection against the mutation.
“It’s concerning to see the South African variant and in a non-traveler because that means there has been some community circulation,” she said.
Kemble added that masks, social distancing and not gathering in large groups continue to be among the top things people can do to prevent the spread of coronavirus.
She said close contacts of the person who had the variant have tested positive.
Those cases have not yet been confirmed to be the South African variant, but the Health Department said they are assumed to be.
The state has previously detected other COVID mutations in Hawaii, including those from the UK and Brazil. A mutation from California has also been said to be contributing to community spread on Maui.
Officials said Monday they have also recently found two new cases of UK variant for a total of eight so far. The two most recent cases were detected in Oahu residents who had traveled to the mainland.
This story will be updated.
Surfer
China released another one, eh?
Can I ask a stupid question?
Why are we discussing a “South African” variant? Weren’t we told we aren’t supposed to say “China virus”? Because the reasoning was that we aren’t supposed to identify a virus with a specific country?
Considering that, why are we discussing a “South African” variant? Why aren’t we being told to call this variant by something other than a geographic location associated with the variant?
That’s probably because the CCP owns the current administration and doesn’t want China to be blamed for the virus. But you knew this, no?
COVID is endemic.
Non-preventable.
We need to learn to live with it...not bunkered down, not behind masks.
Just live.
Anybody see Facie there... opening test tube and running around.
Could be true.
They have a travel history or contact... They’re just lying about it like the first Canadian in Canada with the variant lied about it.
She was a Doctor in Ontario who hadn’t travelled and had no history of travelling. What she failed to mention to authorities (and they later determined) was that she had a friend staying at her house who came from the UK to visit her over Christmas... Oops! The friend gave her the variant... She worked at several nursing homes and her husband was an ambulance driver... Now the UK variant is prevalent throughout Ontario. Go figure.
I did not know the internet was capable of transmitting viruses.
Time to start putting these rascals on an outbound ice floe.
Living with COVID is easy.
Now with voter fraud, that is the hard part.
Sounds drastic, but reasonable... Another idea... 3 years in prison with no chance for parole or house arrest and a $10,000 fine.
It’s in the wind😏
It’s in the wind😏
Yes. And it would have made its way over anyhow.
Whales carry corona virus. A male whale swam from South Africa to Hawaii to mate with a female whale from the South China Sea. The person was on a whale-watching boat tour. The whales surfaced right next to the boat during mating and blew their blowholes all over the boat. Yup.
The email the guy received from that Nigerian prince?
It’d be difficult to avoid contracting infectious diseases from the millions of people who travel to a relatively small place like Hawaii.
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