Hawaii says COVID-19 'variants of concern' now account for majority of cases in state

Hawaii’s health officials said Wednesday that recent data shows COVID-19 “variants of concern” now account for a majority of the state’s new illnesses.

The data also reflected a rise in the P.1 variant, which was first detected in Brazil, and "may be more resistant to antibodies from vaccination or previous infection." Health officials also noted that the B.1.429 variant, originally detected in California, was the dominate variant in the state in March and April, and has been detected 631 times. By late April, the B.1.1.7 variant, originally detected in the U.K., had become the dominate strain and currently accounts for 61% of variants circulating in the islands.  "The B.1.1.7 and the B.1.429 variants are more transmissible than original COVID-19 lineages," Dr. Sarah Kemble, acting state epidemiologist, said. "These variants move more easily from person to person and therefore may spread more quickly through the community and be harder to contain."