A more transmissible variant of the coronavirus that causes COVID-19 may be circulating in Hawaii, state health officials said this afternoon.
According to the state Department of Health, four specimens have been identified that exhibit a “molecular clue” associated with the highly transmissible B1.1.7 variant of the virus.
Whole genome sequencing is being performed on these specimens and is expected to be complete later this week, the DOH said.
Nine more samples of a variant first detected in Denmark in March 2020, which was discovered in Hawaii last month, also have been identified.
That variant, L452R, has not been proven so far to spread more quickly or and does not decrease the effectiveness of the COVID-19 vaccines, the DOH said.
One of the L452R variants so far identified was from Maui, one from Kauai, and seven from Oahu.
Four of those individuals with that variant had a travel history to the mainland, the DOH said. Investigation is ongoing into one Maui case and four Oahu cases that had no history of travel.