Elizabeth Fite
Chattanooga Times Free Press
Baylor School research scientists believe they ve identified the new, seemingly more contagious U.K. COVID-19 variant in the Chattanooga region after in-house laboratory testing revealed mutations in two different coronavirus patient samples collected in December.
If their findings are confirmed, it would mean the variant which appears to spread much more quickly but does not cause more serious or deadly illness than other COVID-19 variants has been circulating in Southeast Tennessee since before it was formally identified in the United States.
The U.K. variant, known as B.1.1.7, was first documented nationally by Colorado health officials on Dec. 29 and has been reported in at least five states, including in Georgia on Tuesday. B.1.1.7 is sweeping across England and is blamed for fueling the country s latest coronavirus resurgence.
Dalton, Georgia, planned for progress, not a pandemic
mdjonline.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from mdjonline.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
How Whitfield County became one of Georgia s worst COVID-19 hot spots
mdjonline.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from mdjonline.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.