More contagious, possibly more deadly variant of COVID found in Tri-Cities

The Tri-Cities area went from no known cases of the COVID-19 Brazil Variant to 11 cases in the course of a week, according to the Washington state Department of Health.

The variant is of concern because it spreads more easily than the strain of COVID-19 seen initially in the state of Washington and it may cause somewhat more severe illness, said Dr. Scott Lindquist, acting state health officer, at a Wednesday news media briefing.

He said that another variant, the United Kingdom Variant, was the dominant variant in the state as of this week.

“It couldn’t happen at a worse time,” he said.

Warm weather has people spending more time outdoors and taking a more relaxed approach to protective measures such as wearing masks and relaxing social distancing, he said.

But 75% of the residents in the state are not yet fully vaccinated against COVID-19, said Dr. Umair Shah, the state’s secretary of health.

COVID vaccines approved for use in the United States are effective against the Brazil and UK variants.

Statewide the cases of the P.1 Variant, which was first identified in travelers from Brazil, jumped from 34 to 116 since last week.

Almost half of the cases found in the state were in people ages 20 to 34, according to the Washington state Department of Health.

About 9% of those known to have the Brazil Variant strain were hospitalized, compared with 3% of those with the United Kingdom Variant. The percentages may be low because hospitalization status was not known for all people infected with the Brazil and UK strains.

A sampling of test samples that are positive for COVID-19 are genotyped to determine the strain.

About a third of cases of the Brazil Variant outside of King County in Washington state have been found in Benton and Franklin counties, with five in Benton County and six in Franklin County.

King County has had 82 cases detected, Pierce and Snohomish counties each have had eight cases, Spokane County has had four, Yakima County has had two and Whatcom County has had one.

Benton and Franklin counties have had 53 cases identified with the UK Variant, which also is most common statewide in people ages 20 to 34.

The UK Variant also is more contagious than the strain most common since the start of the pandemic and also may cause more severe disease.

This story was originally published April 22, 2021 at 10:04 AM.