The Iowa Department of Public Health (IDPH) on Wednesday confirmed 38 cases of the COVID-19 variant, SARS-CoV-2 B.1.1.7, known as the U.K. variant, have been found in Iowa. The increased reporting is in part due to more testing by the State Hygienic Lab (SHL) specifically for the variant. Department staff have initiated contact with the positive patients to learn more about their exposure and to recommend mitigation measures. This includes notifying anyone with whom the individuals have been in close contact and isolation in accordance with the IDPH and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) guidance. “Because current evidence shows the current vaccines are effective against the B.1.1.7 variant, it’s absolutely critical for Iowans to get the vaccine when one is made available to them,” says State Medical Director and Epidemiologist, Dr. Caitlin Pedati. “As viruses are known to change a bit over time and variants can sometimes be more easily transmissible, reaching herd immunity will be very important to reducing virus activity. Public health will continue to work with our partners at SHL to monitor these trends and it is very important that we all keep practicing good public health measures,” Pedati adds. For more details on vaccine eligibility, log on to www.vaccinate.iowa.gov. Updates on the variant will be shared on the CDC’s website, a link to which can be found below.
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CDC data tracking: https://covid.cdc.gov/covid-data-tracker/#datatracker-home
