Brazilian variant now also in county
By Jane Roberts, Daily Memphian
Updated: February 10, 2021 9:14 AM CT | Published: February 09, 2021 12:38 PM CT
Shelby Health Department personnel and volunteers administer COVID-19 vaccinations on Tuesday, Jan. 12, 2021 in the Pipkin Building at Tiger Lane. (Mark Weber/The Daily Memphian)
A week after the U.K. variant was sequenced in Shelby County, researchers now confirm the Brazilian strain is also circulating here.
Both are considered more contagious strains of COVID-19.
“This reflects that this is a world disease and the variants are going to come to the United States,” said Dr. Scott Strome, executive dean of the College of Medicine at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center.