Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Health Department Confirms UK Coronavirus Variant Found In Jacksonville

Matt Dunham
/
Associated Press
A patient arrives at a London hospital, where a new coronavirus variant is spreading. That variant has now been confirmed in a Jacksonville case.

The Duval County Health Department confirms one case of the COVID variant first identified in the United Kingdom has been found in Jacksonville.

The director, Dr. Pauline Rolle, said more information may be available later in the day, according to WJCT News partner News4Jax.

According to data from Centers for Disease Control and Prevention updated Thursday evening, 347 cases of this B.1.1.7 variant have been found in Florida -- the most confirmed cases in the United States and twice as many as have been identified in any other state.

Last week, 825,000 cases of COVID-19 were identified in the United States, according to CDC, while only an average of 6,000 samples each week are given the genomic sequencing needed to detect the variant.

Read the rest of this story at News4Jax.com.