State health officials on Tuesday said a new variant of the virus that causes COVID-19, called B1.1.7, may be present in Hawaii.
The Department of Health’s State Laboratories Division said it continues to work in partnership with private sector laboratories to collect and examine specimens of the SARS-CoV-2 virus, which causes COVID-19.
To date, nine samples of the L452R variant have been identified and four specimens that exhibit a molecular clue associated with the United Kingdom B1.1.7 have been found in Hawaii. L452R was first detected in March 2020 in Denmark while the B1.1.7 variant was first detected in September in the United Kingdom.
Expedited whole genome sequencing (WGS) is being performed on the specimens containing the molecular clue to determine whether they are the B1.1.7 variant. Sequencing is expected to be completed later this week. The Department of Health said it will announce results immediately upon completion.
Diagnostic Laboratory Services Inc. (DLS) provided two specimens to the State Laboratories Division with the B1.1.7 molecular clue and the state lab found two specimens with this clue among the samples it proactively collects.
Of the nine L452R variants identified so far, one was from Maui, one from Kauai, and seven were from Oahu. Four individuals carrying the L452R variant had a history of travel to or from the U.S. mainland (three California and one Utah), including two returning residents. Investigation is ongoing into one Maui case and four Oahu cases that had no history of travel.
Overall, 3.4% of 264 specimens that had WGS completed in January were identified as having the L452R variant. Three of the samples that yielded the L452R variant had been collected in late December, indicating the variant has been present in the state for at least five to six weeks.
The L452R mutation is considered “under investigation” by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). It has not been proven so far to be associated with increased transmissibility of COVID-19, and it is not associated with vaccine failure or decreased effectiveness of the COVID-19 vaccines.
The State Laboratories Division and the DOH’s Disease Outbreak Control Division continue to collect specimens from all parts of the state. The division began performing WGS in June and now performs sequencing on approximately 300 samples per month. More than 900 samples from all of Hawaii’s counties have been analyzed.