PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) — A coronavirus variant first detected in the United Kingdom has been found in three Rhode Island patients, the state Department of Health announced Tuesday.
The variant was identified Thursday in one patient in their 60s, one in their 50s, and one in their 20s, the agency said in a statement.
The samples underwent sequencing as part of the agency’s COVID-19 genomic surveillance plan and are still under investigation.
The United Kingdom variant is considered more contagious, and may be even be more lethal, than the strain that has been predominant in Rhode Island.
State Department of Health Director Nicole Alexander-Scott said last week that the U.K. variant, as well as variants from Brazil and South Africa, were likely to be detected in Rhode Island.
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