CLEVELAND — Doctors at University Hospitals Cleveland Medical Center have discovered several emerging COVID-19 variants, including the U.K. variant, in samples from Northeast Ohio patients, confirmed Carly Belsterling, a spokesperson for UH.
UH has identified a variant in samples as far back as December 2020. Based on the hospital’s surveillance approach, doctors believe the variants represent a low proportion of COVID-19 circulating in Northeast Ohio.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said earlier this month they believe the U.K. variant of the coronavirus will become the dominant strain in the U.S. by March. Many health experts believe the UK variant has been in the U.S. for several weeks and is spreading quickly because it is more transmissible.
Earlier this week, Gov. Mike DeWine expressed his concern about the “midwest variant” that was discovered in Columbus by researchers at The Ohio State University.
"We have a new "midwest variant" of the virus, and we are concerned that it could become the dominant strain in Ohio - this variant is much more contagious," said DeWine, citing what happened to the variant discovered in the U.K.
The evolving strain with the three new mutations has become the dominant virus in Columbus during a three-week period in late December 2020 and January. Like the U.K. strain, the mutations in the Columbus strain are likely to make the virus more infectious, making it easier for the virus to pass from person-to-person.
RELATED: Researchers discover new variant of COVID-19 virus in patient in Columbus
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