North Carolina is the fifth state to report a case of the South African variant. Data suggest the mutant strain of COVID-19 may be more contagious than those previously discovered. As of Feb. 11, eleven cases of infection with the variant had been identified in the Carolinas, along with California Maryland and Virginia.
The CDC notified South Carolina health officials that a sample tested at a LabCorp facility was found to be B.1.35 positive as well, the health department said Thursday. At the same time, the state’s own public health lab “identified a separate case of the same variant,” the South Carolina Department of Health said in a statement.
