New COVID-19 Strain Found In Waupaca County

Ministério da Ciência, Tecnologia, Inovações e Comunicações / CC

WAUPACA, WI – The B.1.1.7 strain, known as the U.K. variant of COVID-19, has made its first known appearance in Waupaca County.

The County Health Department said they were recently notified of the results and that person tested positive in late January and that individual has already gone through the isolation period.

In Wisconsin, cases of B.1.1.7 are identified through ongoing surveillance and whole-genome sequencing, a
routine practice since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. All viruses, including the virus that causes COVID-19,
change through mutation, and new variants of the virus are expected to occur over time.

As of Monday, 26 cases of the UK variant are known in Wisconsin.