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Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont said on Thursday, Jan. 7, health officials confirmed the first two cases in the state of the COVID-19 variant B.1.1.7, which is the same variant that was initially discovered in the UK and is said to be up to 70 percent from infectious.
Both Connecticut patients are between the ages of 15 and 25 and reside in New Haven County.
Lamont said that both of the positive cases had traveled outside of Connecticut - one to Ireland and the other to New York State - and developed symptoms within four days of their return.
The cases have been proven to be unrelated and were discovered as part of the state Department of Public Health’s enhanced surveillance testing strategy that they started last week.
According to Lamont, both infected parties were interviewed by contact tracers and any close contact has been identified and notified. More contact tracing is expected now that the infection was determined to be from the variant.
Of the two cases, one person has completed the isolation period and the other is currently self-isolating at home. They’ve been instructed to remain quarantined until they are symptom-free for at least 10 days.
“As we said last week, given the speed of this new strand of the virus and its identification in several states throughout the country, we presumed it was already in our state and this info this morning confirms that fact,” Lamont said.
“This is another reason why everyone should continue taking precautions to prevent transmission of this disease, including wearing face coverings, practicing social distancing, and avoiding gatherings with people outside your household.”
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