New COVID-19 Variant Found In Cobb County

COBB COUNTY, GA — The COVID-19 variant B.1.1.7 —the same variant discovered in the United Kingdom, several other countries and U.S. states — has appeared in Cobb County, said Dr. Janet Memark, district health director of Cobb & Douglas Public Health, in a virtual town hall meeting Tuesday.

Memark said the department was told by health care officials that the new strain, which the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said is more contagious, has been discovered in Cobb County, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. It was not stated how many cases of the new strain have been discovered in the county, but the state reported its first case of the variant Jan. 5.

Including antigen and PCR tests, Cobb County's two-week case number is about 1,000 per 100,000 people, Memark said Tuesday — a rate 10 times higher than what's considered high community spread.

Cobb also has one of the highest number of hospitalizations in the state and very few critical care beds at its hospitals, Memark said. As of Thursday, Cobb reported 638 cumulative deaths and 2,530 hospitalizations since the pandemic began, according to the Georgia Department of Public Health.

View the full story on the Atlanta Journal-Constitution's website.