ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. – Orange County health officials announced two more cases of the U.K. variant of COVID-19, also known as the B 1.1.7 variant during a news conference on Monday.
The Florida Department of Health said of the 12 Orange County residents with the variant, none of them have required hospitalization and all of them are out of quarantine.
FDOH Epidemiologist Alvin Chu said two of the 12 patients were asymptomatic.
[TRENDING: 1 dead in Rolls Royce crash | Mom, boyfriend arrested after toddler drowns | How to get the vaccine in Fla.]
“We don’t know necessarily if you have a variant until many days down the road, perhaps even weeks. Partly the random sampling, partly because the lab testing is further away from us and takes a longer time,” Chu said.
Chu also said it is unclear the length of time between someone testing positive for the virus and the discovery of the variant.
“Every new infection allows the virus to mutate and gives it this opportunity to gain some advantage,” Chu said.
Chu also said that the state screens for several variants at random, and it is unclear what percentage of tests being screened.
She wants to remind anyone who tests positive for the virus, to isolate at home.
Of the 12 cases, health officials said only one person traveled outside of the country.