SEATTLE (AP) — Health officials in Washington state say a coronavirus variant first identified in England and recently found in Snohomish and Pierce counties, has now been detected in a King County test sample.
UW Medicine on Friday notified King County health officials, who said the news was “worrisome, but not surprising.”
Officials say the variant, known as the B117 strain, spreads more easily than others and quickly became the dominant strain in the U.K.
The CDC has predicted the strain likely will become the predominant one in the U.S. by March.