At least one international variant of the novel coronavirus is in Kansas.
On Wednesday, the Kansas Department of Health and Environment confirmed a case of the so-called UK variant in Ellis County. The department is investigating how the patient got infected with that particular strain and also whether other residents may have been exposed.
Whole genome sequencing led to the discovery.
The UK variant and others were reported two months ago, with the UK variant making it to the United States at the end of December. The UK variant, along with others noted in Brazil and South Africa, are said to be more highly contagious than the original strain in place for most of the last 10 months.
