Samples show more COVID variants found in non-travelers

Guam has recorded an additional 18 new cases of COVID variants from results sent to the CDC for genome sequencing.

The 18 variants are results from a total of 25 virus samples collected between March- April 2021.

Out of the 18 variants 17 were identified as Variants of Concern (VOC) and one case was identified as a Variant of Interest (VOI).

Here is a further breakdown:

-16 were identified as the U.K. variant/ VOC
-1 was identified as the South African variant / VOC
-1 was identified as the India variant / VOI

The Joint Information Center reports that five of the variant cases were travel-related, with three identified in the GovGuam quarantine facility.

Additionally out of these five cases three were identified with the U.K. variant, 1 was identified with the South African variant, and 1 with India variant.

The remaining 13 had no travel-related history and were from two separate community clusters. All were identified to have been infected with the U.K. variant.

This brings the total number of variants on Guam to 34 out of the 116 virus samples that have been submitted to the CDC for genome sequencing.