Idaho confirms its first case of a mutated COVID-19 virus. Here’s what we know

Idaho health officials have confirmed the first known case of a COVID-19 variant in Idaho.

The Idaho Department of Health and Welfare and Southwest District Health on Friday confirmed the first known infection with one of the global coronavirus “variants of concern” in an adult male living in Southwest Idaho.

The man recently traveled outside the U.S. “and is thought to have been exposed before returning to Idaho,” a news release from Health and Welfare said.

Laboratory testing identified the virus that infected him as the B.1.351 variant of the coronavirus that causes COVID-19. That variant was first detected in South Africa in late 2020. There were 21 confirmed cases of people infected with that variant in 10 states, according to U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Protection data from Thursday. Idaho’s case brings that total to at least 22 cases in 11 states.

Public health officials are concerned about the variants because they are believed to spread more easily between people, and may be able to evade antibodies against the coronavirus.

“People have just got to continue to be careful,” Idaho Gov. Brad Little told the Statesman in an interview Friday morning. “The variants were late coming to Idaho, so if we see (concerning trends in other states with the variant), our coronavirus working group will get together to make recommendations to me and the state epidemiologist on what to do.”

But in the meantime, people should continue to follow public health guidance, he said. “Right now, we’re in a race to get the vaccine into as many arms as possible,” he said.

Epidemiologists at Southwest District Health are working with the state to do contact tracing, to find anyone who may have been exposed to the virus through the man whose case was identified.

“We are not surprised to find this virus in Idaho,” said Dr. Christine Hahn, medical director in the Division of Public Health, in the news release. “As we just learned from Boise City’s wastewater testing program this week, variant strains have arrived in the state. We remind Idahoans to continue wearing masks, physically distancing, washing hands frequently, and staying home when ill. In addition to getting vaccinated when it becomes available for you, those actions are the best things we can do now.”

Little told the Statesman on Friday that the Idaho Bureau of Laboratories now is capable of doing the lab work required to sequence SARS-CoV-2 samples to find emerging strains. Previously, the state had to send samples out of state for sequencing, limiting the state’s ability to look for variants of concern.

There currently are 86 samples in the process of being checked for variants, including 36 at the IBL’s Boise-based laboratory.

This story was originally published February 19, 2021 at 11:32 AM.