— A day after health experts warned a variant of the COVID-19 strain that spreads easier could already be in Washington state, the Department of Health announced the B.1.1.7 variant was detected in two cases.
The UW Medicine Virology Lab detected two cases of the variant in specimens from two Snohomish County residents.
The B.1.1.7 variant that was first identified in September emerged with a large number of mutations and has spread significantly in London and southeast England. .