Another four cases of a variant strain of COVID-19 were confirmed in Hidalgo County for a total of eight cases and another five in Cameron County.
The additional cases of the B.1.1.7. variant, also known as the U.K. variant, were reported by Dr. Emilie Prot, regional medical director for the Texas Department of State Health Services, Public Health Region 11. Hidalgo County Spokesman Carlos Sanchez confirmed the total number of cases.
(Read: Hidalgo County confirms UK variant)
“Right now for Region 11, as of yesterday, we have 20 cases of variant,” Prot said during a weekly news conference call held Friday.
Region 11 is a 19-county area in South Texas that includes the Rio Grande Valley.
In addition to Hidalgo County’s eight cases and Cameron’s five, Prot said there were three in Nueces County, two in San Patricio, one in Jim Wells County and one in Bee County.
“Right now, we’ve seen an increase to 994 total cases as of March 24, and that’s an increase of about 65% from the previous week,” she said. “So that is a big jump.”
The majority of the variant cases are of the B.1.1.7. variant, Prot said, noting that variant strains were three times as transmissible then the original COVID-19 strains.
“So we do need to be careful, we still are learning about these variants,” Prot said. “We do know that if they’re more transmissible, if they’re going to be transmitting to multiple people in a family, well then the person who’s at higher risk of hospitalization and death will be getting affected.”
Prot said the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, as well as the state, were keeping a close eye on the spread of the variant strains, but detecting them can take several weeks.
A molecular analysis of the variant strains takes three to five weeks, which is longer than it would take to confirm the original strains.
“It’s not as fast turnaround compared to regular PCR, regular antigen testing, and it takes more time. And that is something that I’m concerned about because we want to make sure that we’re catching these strains ahead of time, and right now we can’t,” Prot said.
(Read: Experts: Virus vaccine can curb spread of variants)
On Friday, Hidalgo County reported 179 new cases of COVID-19 overall.
Of the 179 new cases, 41 are confirmed cases, 115 are probable, and 23 are suspected. Since the start of the pandemic, there have been 56,115 confirmed cases in the county, 29,983 probable cases, and 1,362 suspected cases.
Currently, 2,096 cases in the county are considered active.
County officials also reported three more residents died from complications related to COVID-19, while 179 people tested positive.
The three individuals were all Mission residents — a woman in her 40s, a woman over 70, and a man over 70.
Their deaths bring the total number of COVID-19 related fatalities in Hidalgo County to 2,754.
Additionally, the county reported there are 116 COVID-19 patients being treated at local hospitals, while 42 of them were in an intensive care unit.
In Cameron County, there were three more deaths related to COVID-19 for a total of 1,572 confirmed deaths there since the start of the pandemic.
Health officials there also reported 45 new confirmed cases for a total of 38,357. Of those, 2,649 cases are currently active.
