OTTAWA COUNTY, Mich. — The B.1.1.7 COVID-19 variant has been identified in Ottawa County, health officials announced Friday.
The confirmed case is younger than 20 years of age and had no known travel history.
“The case is in isolation with close contacts identified,” said Dr. Heidel, medical director at the Ottawa County Department of Public Health. “Additional measures take place when a variant is identified or even suspected, such as a strict 14-day quarantine and an extended contact tracing timeframe. With the case not having any travel history and the variant being highly transmissible, we are urging all people take extra precautions to avoid infection and furthering the spread of the virus.”
Michigan had detected 562 cases of the variant across the state as of Thursday, and 3,701 have been identified across the U.S.
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Thought to have emerged in the United Kingdom, the B.1.1.7 variant concerns health officials because it’s thought to be more transmissible than the original versions that started the pandemic.
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SEE MORE: CORONAVIRUS IN WEST MICHIGAN