The Georgia Department of Public Health on Monday said that 19 cases of a COVID-19 variant first detected in the United Kingdom have been confirmed in the state, including in Cobb County.
The nine counties Georgia DPH identified as having variant cases are in metro Atlanta: Carroll, Cherokee, Clayton, Cobb, DeKalb, Douglas, Fulton, Gwinnett, and Paulding.
The individuals diagnosed with the variant are between the ages of 15 to 61. They include eight males and 11 females, according to a Georgia DPH press release, which added that the agency is “working to identify close contacts of the individuals, and will monitor them closely.”
Georgia DPH didn’t break down the number of cases in each county.
Last week, Cobb and Douglas Public Health director Dr. Janet Memark told county commissioners that a mutation of COVID-19 had been detected in Cobb, but didn’t elaborate.
The variant detected by Georgia DPH is called B.1.1.7, which the U.S. Centers for Disease Control said emerged in the U.K. and was first identified in the United States in December. At least 30 states have reported B.1.1.7 cases.
The CDC said that mutation “may be associated with an increased risk of death compared with other variants” and that it may become the dominant strain in the U.S. by March.
The Georgia DPH release said that Pfizer and Moderna, whose vaccines have been distributed in limited quantities in the state, say those vaccines “appear to work against this variant.”
Georgia DPH urged the public to follow familiar habits to prevent the spread of COVID: Wearing masks, washing hands and practicing social-distancing.
The agency also said that “just because [the variant] has not been identified in a particular city or county does not mean it is not there—individuals could be infected anywhere in the state, or in some cases out of state.”
Georgia DPH reported 2,587 new COVID cases and 44 deaths on Monday. In Cobb, there were 236 new cases and one new death, bringing the county’s cumulative totals from last March to 50,928 and 702.
After a serious spike in cases in early January—Cobb reported a single-day record of 981 on Jan. 8—case rates have been falling, both according to the “date of report,” when a positive COVID case is reported to health authorities, and “date of onset,” or the day someone feels symptoms and gets tested.
Also falling are Cobb’s figures on community spread—as seen in the Cobb GIS graphic above. After surpassing a 14-day average of more than 1,000 cases per 100,000 people, Georgia DPH data on Monday show that number is 611 in Cobb.
That’s well above the “high community spread” threshold of 100 cases, but Memark said in her remarks the drop is an encouraging sign.
What’s not encouraging are efforts to vaccine those at high risk in Georgia. Cobb and Douglas Public Health said Friday it is not taking any new appointments for vaccinations because of limited vaccine supplies, and is using what it has for those already with confirmed first appointments, and those people needing second doses.
The CDPH website has been available for new appointments every Friday at 5 p.m., but it’s unclear whether that will be happening this week.
The agency distributed only 400 vaccines on Friday, after providing nearly 700 on Monday. Memark said increasing the number of shipments may not happen until March or April.
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