Second B.1.1.7 Case Confirmed in Hawai‘i

A second case of COVID-19 with the B.1.1.7 variant has been confirmed in Hawai’i. 

The Hawaiʻi Department of Health State Laboratories Division reports that both cases involve individuals on O’ahu. Neither has a history of travel.  

The individuals are not known to have had contact with one another.

The DOH Disease Outbreak Control Division is continuing active investigation of both cases and ensuring that both individuals are isolating, and contacts are in quarantine.

The two recent confirmations were among four samples previously identified in Hawai‘i as having a molecular clue consistent with the B.1.1.7 variant. The other specimens are still being analyzed.

The B.1.1.7 variant, originally detected in the United Kingdom, is highly transmissible and leads to a more rapid spread than other common COVID-19 strains.

The State Laboratories Division is performing genome sequencing on 300 specimens per month.