Department of Health launches weekly SARS-CoV-2 sequencing and variant report

||| FROM STATE DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH |||

OLYMPIA — The Washington State Department of Health (DOH) announces that it will begin publishing a weekly SARS-CoV-2 sequencing and variant report today. The report summarizes genome sequencing coverage of Washington SARS-CoV-2 specimens from multiple laboratories across the US and our state. The goal of the report is to provide a statewide view of sequencing capacity and data, including breakouts by county and demographics. Comparing the sequences of viruses allows us to better understand viral transmission and the introduction of new strains, also called variants, to our state

This report will be posted to our DOH dashboard and will be updated every Thursday.

“Sequencing SARS-CoV-2 cases provides critical information to help inform the public health response to the ongoing pandemic. By combining sequencing data with data from case and contact investigations, we can better detect outbreaks, identify and track new and emerging variants, and determine the effectiveness of public health control measures,” said DOH epidemiologist Hanna Oltean.

Washington State reports on the Center for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) variants of concern. These include the B.1.1.7 variant that originated in the United Kingdom; B.1.351, first found in South Africa; and P.1., originally detected in Brazil. DOH will add new variants of concern to the report as they are added to the CDC website.

In late January, the first instance of the B.1.1.7 variant strain was detected in Washington state. Since then, local virology labs have found evidence of additional cases of this variant, bringing the total number of known cases in Washington state to 39.

On February 22, 2021, the first evidence of the B.1 351variant was identified through genomic sequencing at the UW Medicine Virology Laboratory.

View this news release for additional information regarding the detection of variants in our state.

Visit the Department of Health website or coronavirus.wa.gov for additional information and guidance.