8 Alabama residents have been infected with UK COVID-19 variant, ADPH says - WVTM13

The Alabama Department of Public Health on Thursday said eight Alabama residents have been infected with the highly contagious UK strain of COVID-19, B117.

The health department said it is partnering with several private and commercial laboratories in the state to expand its ability to identify COVID-19 strains that are known to be more transmissible and may sabotage current progress of reducing cases in the state.

"To date, eight variant strain cases of the highly transmissible COVID-19 B.1.1.7 variant have been identified in Alabama residents, but only a couple of the cases had out-of-state travel prior to illness onset which indicates this variant strain is already circulating in Alabama," ADPH said in a news release.