AP
Washington Hispanic:
The Department Maryland Health Department is working with regional and federal partners to test patient samples for infection with the new variant of the coronavirus.
The Baltimore Sun reports that the Centers for Disease Control and the United States Disease Prevention are collaborating with the state public health laboratory as well as state laboratories in California and Delaware to test for the apparently most contagious variant.
There have been at least two cases of the COVID variant – 19 identified in the United States, one in California and another in Colorado.
A Maryland health department spokesperson says the variant has not been detected Adopted in Maryland.
The CDC says medical professionals now do not believe the new variant is more deadly than the existing one or that it will not respond to vaccines. But it could be much more contagious and make the pandemic even more difficult to contain.