Michigan
First case of new Covid variant BA.2.86 reported from Michigan
This week, the first case of the mutated BA.2.86 strain of COVID was found in Washtenaw County, Michigan as stated by the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services. The person with the case is an aged adult with mild symptoms as of yet.
Chelsea Wuth, a spokesperson from the department made a statement on the same, “Based on the available evidence, it is not known yet what risks, if any, this may pose to the public’s health beyond what has been seen with other currently circulating lineages.”
Seven cases of the new highly mutated BA.2.86 strain have been found worldwide with one in Michigan. According to a global virus tracker, GISAID, additional cases have been found in Denmark and Israel and the United Kingdom this week.
U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has been monitoring the new strain of COVID-19 and now the health officials are working with CDC to gather more information on the strain.
“Public health agencies continue to investigate cases and test available specimens to understand the spread of COVID-19 in the population. The University of Michigan and the State of Michigan both sequence COVID-19 viruses to detect new variants, which is how this variant was identified,” added Chelsea.
While health experts are of the view that the BA.2.86 mutations are similar in size to those that led to Omicron, Jesse Bloom, a virologist at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center is of the view, that even is a “highly mutated new variant” starts to spread, “we will be in a far better place than we were in 2020 and 2021, since most people have some immunity to SARS-CoV-2 now.”
The cases of COVID-19 are increasing but low in Michigan as reported.
However, the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services encourages people to test for COVID-19 if feeling sick. Also requested, is to keep yourself updated with your vaccinations.